Jan. 19, 2016
Teams: Vanderbilt (13-4, 2-2) vs. No. 18/22 Tennessee (11-6, 2-2)
Day, Date: Thursday, Jan. 21
Tip-off time: 6 p.m.
Site: Thompson Boling Arena (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Radio: 560 AM / 95.9 FM (Charlie Mattos on play-by-play)
TV: SEC Network
Game Notes: Vanderbilt vs. UT Game Notes 
When the Vanderbilt women face No. 18-ranked Tennessee on the road Thursday night, the Commodores will have a chance to make a significant move in the SEC standings — and post a watershed win for the program. Riding a two-game winning streak, the Commodores (13-4, 2-2) will be looking to earn their first-ever victory on the Lady Vols’ home floor and end a 30-game losing streak in Knoxville. Vanderbilt is currently tied with Tennessee for seventh place in the tightly-bunched conference standings, and the Commodores, who had an open date on Sunday, are just a half-game out of third place. (Texas A&M, Arkansas, Florida and Kentucky are tied for third with 3-2 records). Tennessee enters Thursday’s game having lost three of its past four games, including suffering a 79-66 road loss to No. 3-ranked Notre Dame on Monday night. The Lady Vols are ranked 138th in the nation in scoring (at an evil 66.6 points per game). They have posted an 8-3 record at home this season, with losses to Texas, Virginia Tech and Florida. Here’s a closer look at Thursday’s game:
l The skinny on Vanderbilt: The Commodores, who were off on Sunday, return to the floor Thursday night looking to win their third straight conference game, which would be their first three-game SEC winning streak since January of 2014. … Vanderbilt has gone 12-2 since Nov. 22, including winning 10 straight games to close out the non-conference schedule. … The Commodores are just two wins away from matching their win total from last year, when they finished 15-16 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first since 1999. … Vanderbilt opened SEC play with a pair of tough loss — seeing a 12-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter of a 55-52 loss at Ole Miss and then falling to No. 2-ranked South Carolina 71-61 in a contest that featured 18 lead changes and eight ties. Since then, the Commodores have rebounded with wins over Alabama and LSU to move into a tie for seventh place in the SEC standings.
l Among the best: Vanderbilt’s lock-down defense, which is beginning to gain more and more attention, ranks No. 7 in the nation and first in the SEC in points allowed per game at 51.1. The Commodores have limited opponents to 59 points or less in 13 of 17 games this season, and have surrendered 49 points or less in seven games. … Vanderbilt ranks No. 10 in the country and No. 1 in the SEC in field-goal percentage (47.5 percent), which is the norm for the Commodores. They have ranked among the nation’s Top-20 in field-goal percentage in 12 of the past 13 seasons since Balcomb’s arrival. … Vanderbilt ranks 16th in the nation and second in the SEC in 3-point percentage at 37.1. … Vanderbilt is limiting its opponents to 26.2 rebounds per game, easily the best mark in the SEC. (Missouri is second at 32.5).
l Star Power: Christa Reed, who is Vanderbilt’s top scorer at 11.5 points per game, is leading the SEC in 3-point accuracy at 45.7 percent. … Reed also ranks fourth in the conference in 3-pointers per game at 2.2. … Minta Spears ranks sixth in the SEC in assists (4.7 apg) and third in the SEC in minutes played (33.3 mpg). … Marque’s Webb is VU’s top rebounder at 4.5 per game. … Rayte’a Long is having the best season of her career, shooting 69.2 percent from the floor and ranking second on the team in rebounding at 4.1.
l Scouting the opponent: The Lady Vols are experiencing a rare mid-season slump, having lost three of their past four games, including Monday’s 79-66 loss to No. 3 Notre Dame on Monday night and a 64-59 defeat against Arkansas in their most recent SEC game on Jan. 14. … UT has three players averaging in double figures this season, led by Diamond DeShields at 15.4 points per game. Bashaara Graves is averaging 10.9 ppg and Mercedes Russell is 10.8 ppg. … The Lady Vols are ranked 138th in the nation in scoring (at 66.6 points per game) and 78th in defense (58.8). … UT is having a tough season from 3-point range, ranking 334th in the nation and last in the SEC in 3-point percentage (23.8) and 309th in 3-pointers per game (3.6).
l Sizing up the Series: Thursday’s game marks the 74th all-time match-up between the Commodores and the Lady Vols, with Tennessee owning a 64-9 lead in the series. … Vanderbilt is 0-30 against Tennessee on the Lady Vols’ home floor. … Tennessee swept the Commodores last season, posting a 57-49 win in Nashville on Jan. 5 and then earning a 79-49 victory in Knoxville in the regular-season finale for both teams on March 1. … Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb is 3-26 against Tennessee. … Vanderbilt has defeated UT in three of the past seven seasons (2008-09, 2011-12 and 2013-14), with all three wins coming in Nashville. … The series dates back to the 1979-80 season.
l What’s trending for VU: Sophomore guard Christa Reed, who is leading the SEC in 3-point accuracy at 45.7 percent, is shooting 50 percent from long range in the past 16 games, going 33-for-66. She has made at least one 3-pointer in 14 of VU’s 17 games this season. … Senior forward Rayte’a Long is shooting 75.0 percent (15-of-20) from the floor over the past 10 games and is shooting 69.2 percent for the season. … Junior guard Minta Spears has compiled four or more assists in 11 of VU’s 17 games, and has logged 30 minutes or more of playing time in 13 games. … Before being limited to two points in last Sunday’s win over Alabama, redshirt sophomore guard Rebekah Dahlman had reached double figures in five of the previous seven games (from Dec. 5 through Jan. 7) and had averaged 11.9 points per game in that stretch.
l VU’s most recent game: Buoyed by another gritty defensive effort, Vanderbilt won its second straight SEC game Thursday night, downing LSU 58-42 at Memorial Gym. The Commodores (13-4, 2-2) came into the night ranked eighth in the nation in defense, surrendering just 51.6 points per game. They did even better than that against the short-handed Tigers (7-9, 1-3), who dressed only eight players. Vanderbilt, which never trailed in the game, limited LSU to 33.3 percent shooting and held the Tigers to single-digit scoring in the second and third quarters. Christa Reed, the SEC’s leader in 3-point percentage, went 3-of-4 from long range and finished with a game-high 15 points, and Spears added 10 points and four rebounds for Vanderbilt. Akilah Bethel finished with 11 points to lead LSU, and Alexis Hyder and Jasmine Rhodes added 10 each. Although the game didn’t have much flow, Vanderbilt was effective and efficient on the offensive end. The Commodores committed just nine turnovers and shot 50 percent from the floor, finishing 24-of-48.
l Last year’s games vs. UT: The Lady Vols swept a home-and-home series from the Commodores last season. Here’s a look at the two games:
Tennessee 57, Vanderbilt 49 (Jan. 5, 2015): The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team hit a season-high seven 3-pointers, but the Commodores had a hard time scoring from anywhere else on the floor during a 57-49 loss loss to No. 7/9 Tennessee. UT’s Andraya Carter scored a game-high 19 points and Ariel Massengale added 12 points despite going just 2-of-9 from the floor. For Vanderbilt (8-6, 0-2), freshman Christa Reed scored a team-high 13 points and fellow freshman Khalèann Caron-Goudreau had 10. Vanderbilt — which came into the night averaging just 3.8 three-pointers per game — finished 7-of-17 from 3-point range. But the Commodores were just 9-of-31 (29 percent) from inside the arc, and their 10-of-16 performance from the foul line (62 percent) didn’t help either. The Lady Vols limited Vanderbilt to just 17 points in the first half, and held the Commodores to 33 percent shooting for the game.
Tennessee 79, Vanderbilt 49 (March 1, 2015): Ariel Massengale scored 26 points and tied a school single-game record with eight 3-pointers to help No. 6 Tennessee beat Vanderbilt 79-49 in the regular-season finale for both teams. Massengale went 8-of-11 from 3-point range and Tennessee was 12-of-22 from beyond the arc. For Vanderbilt, Paris Kea scored a career-high 18 points. She finished 7-of-14 from the floor while playing a team-high 31 minutes. Marqu’es Webb added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting before fouling out for the Commodores. Vanderbilt was 1-of-11 from 3-point range and committed 25 turnovers. Massengale scored the first 11 points for Tennessee, which never trailed in the game and owned a 39-24 halftime lead. Jaime Nared added 13 points and Andraya Carter had 12 points for Tennessee.
