Dec. 17, 2013
Wednesday’s game
Vanderbilt (8-2, 0-0 SEC) at James Madison (8-2, 0-0 CAA)
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Harrisonburg, Va.
Radio: 560 AM, 95.9 FM (Charlie Mattos)
TV: None
Live Stats: View
Game Notes:
Riding a five-game winning streak and looking to complete a quick two-game road sweep, the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team travels to Harrisonburg, Va., on Wednesday to face James Madison.
The Commodores and Dukes, who have identical 8-2 records, will tip-off at 6 p.m.
Vanderbilt, which posted a 65-56 road victory at Hartford on Sunday, will again be without the services of Rebekah Dahlman. The freshman star did not play in Sunday’s game and is out indefinitely after undergoing two procedures last week to dissolve a blood clot.
James Madison comes into the contest on a three-game winning streak, and the Dukes are likely to represent a stiff test for Vanderbilt.
Fueled by the strong play of Kirby Burkholder — who leads the team in scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.1 rpg) — the James Madison squad is averaging 71.5 points per game while limiting opponents to 58.5.
The Commodores have been on a big roll, too. They have not a lost a game since well before Thanksgiving, and their five-game winning streak has included four straight home wins — over Dayton, Elon, Wisconsin and ESTU — followed by a road victory at Hartford on Sunday.
Vanderbilt hasn’t tasted defeat since Nov. 17, when the Commodores dropped a contest at Duke.
Today’s game marks the sixth all-time meeting between Vanderbilt and James Madison, with the Commodores owning a 4-1 series lead after winning the past four games against the Dukes.
The most recent matchup between the teams came during the 2001-02 season, when Vanderbilt rolled to a 90-44 win at Bridgestone Arena.
In the first-ever meeting between the teams, James Madison posted a 68-60 win over Vanderbilt in the second round of the 1987 NCAA tournament in Fayetville, N.C.
Vanderbilt then swept a home-and-home series from the Dukes during the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons, and took both ends of another home-and-home series during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.
With Dahlman sidelined, the Commodores employed a new starting lineup Sunday against Hartford.Freshman Kylee Smith and sophomore Jasmine Jenkins were each given their first starting assignments of the season. They joined sophomore Heather Bowe and seniors Jasmine Lister and Christina Foggie to form Vanderbilt’s lineup against the Hawks.
Prior to Sunday, Vanderbilt’s starting lineup had consisted of Dahlman, Foggie, Lister, Bowe and freshman Marqu’es Webb in each of the first nine games.
Vanderbilt finished Sunday’s game on an 18-9 run to earn the hard-fought 65-56 victory over Hartford.
It was Vanderbilt’s first game since Dec. 3.
Jasmine Lister scored all of her team-high 14 points in the second half and made a series of pivotal plays to help Vanderbilt escape with the win. Lister, who had a team-high seven rebounds and three assists, finished 4-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-5 at the foul line.
The Commodores trailed by as many as nine points early in the first half, and found themselves locked in a 47-47 late in the second half before putting together the game-ending run to finally pull away.
Heather Bowe scored 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting. She also had six rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Christina Foggie, the SEC’s leading scorer, was held to eight points but scored two key buckets in the second half. Marqu’es Webb also finished with eight points.
