Commodores look to make waves at Gulf Coast Showcase

Nov. 25, 2014

EVENT: Gulf Coast Showcase
DATES: Nov. 28-30
SITE: Estero, Fla.
VENUE: Germain Arena
TOURNAMENT BRACKET: HERE
TOURNAMENT WEB SITE: HERE

The members of the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team won’t have to worry about over-eating during the Thanksgiving holidays. If anything, the Commodores might shed a few pounds. They’ll be playing three games in a three-day stretch while competing in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. The tournament begins on Friday, with the Commodores (4-0) facing Minnesota in the opening round. Below are details and storylines surrounding the tournament:

l WHO, WHEN & WHERE: All 12 games of the tournament will be played Nov. 28-30 at Germain Arena in Southwest Florida. Two-time defending national champions Connecticut and three other 2014 NCAA Tournament teams — Vanderbilt, Arizona State and Georgia Tech — headline the pairings for the Showcase. The tournament host is Florida Gulf Coast.

l VANDERBILT SCHEDULE (Times CT):
Friday, Nov. 28: Vanderbilt vs. Minnesota, 5 p.m. Radio: 560 A.M. & 95.9 FM
Saturday, Nov. 29: Vanderbilt vs. UConn (7:30 p.m.) or College of Charleston (1:30 p.m.). Radio: TBA
Sunday, Nov. 30: Vanderbilt vs. TBD. Radio: 560 A.M. & 95.9 FM

l TICKETS: Individual session tickets for the Gulf Coast Showcase women’s tournament can be purchased at GermainArena.com or through Ticketmaster. Tickets range from $10 General Admission to $45 Courtside for each two-game session. Each day of the tournament will feature an afternoon session (11 p.m./1:30 p.m., CT) and evening session (4 p.m./7:30 p.m.) and tickets will be good for both games of a given session. All-session passes are also available.

l PARTICIPATING TEAMS AND RECORDS: (Through Nov. 24): Vanderbilt (4-0), Minnesota (3-0), Georgia Tech (3-1), Green Bay (3-1), Arizona State (2-0), Villanova (1-2), UConn (2-1), College of Charleston (0-3).

l RANK AND FILE: UConn, which suffered an overtime loss to Stanford last week, will carry a No. 3 ranking (AP poll) into the Showcase. Although the Huskies are only the ranked team in the tournament, four additional teams — Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Arizona State and Green Bay — all received votes in the latest AP poll.

l TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The inaugural Gulf Coast Showcase took place last year at Germain Arena, with MTSU winning the women’s title by downing Mississippi State in the championship game, 62-48. MTSU’s Ebony Rowe was named the tournament MVP. (Louisiana Tech won the men’s bracket, downing St. Bonaventure, 76-72, in the finals).

l QUOTABLE: “In just our second year, the Gulf Coast Showcase looks like an NCAA Tournament field in March,” said tournament host and ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli. “This tournament includes some of the most respected programs and coaches in basketball. I’m thrilled to be a part of a first-class, competitive event and can’t wait for the action to tip in November.”

l REMAINING PERFECT: The Commodores improved to 4-0 with a 75-57 victory over St. Louis on Monday afternoon. Freshman Rachel Bell scored a team-high 18 points in the win, which was played in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 6,598 on Education Day at Memorial Gym. An estimated 4,000 school-aged children attended the game. Vanderbilt’s Morgan Batey finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Audrey-Ann Caron Goudreau added 10 points and four blocked shots for the Commodores, who got off to a slow start but used a 14-3 run to flip a 16-11 deficit into a 25-19 lead at 5:43 mark of the first half. Vanderbilt never trailed again.

l KEEPING THEIR BALANCE: With her team-leading 18 points in Monday’s win, freshman Rachel Bell became the fourth different Vanderbilt to grab team-high scoring honors this season. The others have been: Morgan Batey (who scored 15 in the season opener against Belmont), Marqu’es Webb (who led VU with 13 points in the overtime win against Green Bay) and Rebekah Dahlman (who scored 18 in the comeback win at Wisconsin). To further illustrate the Commodores’ balanced scoring this season, consider this: Eight players on the VU roster have reached double-figures in at least one game. Freshman Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau has hit the mark in all four of Vanderbilt’s games, while Junior Morgan Batey and freshman Paris Kea have done so in three games. Marqu’es Webb has hit the mark twice, and four players — redshirt sophomore Kristen Gaffney, redshirt freshman Rebekah Dahlman, and true freshmen Rachel Bell and Christa Reed — have all reached double figures once. “We talk about our balanced scoring a lot,” said Bell, the former star from Creek Wood High. “You really don’t know who it might be for us. It could be Morgan, it could be Christa (Reed), it could be anybody.”

l HEY, WE KNOW YOU: The Vanderbilt players are likely to run into a familiar face at the Showcase this week. Jasmine Lister — the former Vanderbilt star point guard — is serving as a graduate assistant this season at UConn under head coach Geno Auriemma. Lister, who has been at UConn since the beginning of August, graduated from Vanderbilt last spring after a record-breaking career for the Commodores. She is the program’s all-time leader in minutes played (4,626) and also ranks third on the program’s list for assists (591) and 10th in scoring (1,618). Lister was in the starting lineup for every game of her career (129 games). She said her role as graduate assistant could be the first step toward a possible coaching career, but said she is keeping her options open. “We’ll see where things are after my two years in the grad program,” said Lister. “I haven’t ruled out playing basketball professionally, but I know I want to get into coaching at some point.”

l ROSTER UPDATE: Vanderbilt junior Heather Bowe will not be available for action while serving a suspension for a violation of university academic policy. Bowe is expected to be reinstated by the NCAA at the end of this semester.