March 2, 2016
Press Conference | SEC Tournament Central
By David Dawson
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Vanderbilt women are off to a great start in their “new season.”
Fueled by an explosive shooting performance from Christa Reed, the No. 11-seeded Commodores opened the SEC Tournament with a convincing 74-59 victory over No. 14 Ole Miss on Wednesday in Jacksonville, Fla. The win sends Vanderbilt (17-13) into the second round to face Georgia on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
Reed finished 8-of-10 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, while scoring a game-high 21 points to help Vanderbilt saddle Ole Miss (10-20) with its 11th consecutive loss.
Minta Spears and Marqu’es Webb had 13 points each and Morgan Batey added 10 for the Commodores, who roared out to an 18-2 lead in the first quarter, owned a 42-19 lead at the half, and were up by as many as 33 points in the third quarter.
Vanderbilt finished 7-of-10 from 3-point range against an Ole Miss team that ranked third in the SEC in 3-point defense this season (holding opponents to 27.4 percent). The Commodores shot 56.3 percent from the floor overall while putting together the type offensive execution that wasn’t seen often during the team’s recent eight-game losing streak.
“During the losing skid, the main thing we tried to do was just stay focused,” said Reed. “We knew it would all come together. And today, it did.”
Vanderbilt built a double-digit lead early in the first quarter and continually padded the avantage during the next 2 1/2 quarters en route to building its 33-point lead in the second half. Ole Miss put together a 20-0 run down the stretch — which was aided by a series of Vanderbilt turnovers — but the surge was not nearly enough for the Rebels, who never trimmed the Commodores’ lead to less than 13 points.
The win over the Ole Miss enabled the Commodores to atone for a heartbreaking 55-52 regular-season loss to the Rebels on Jan. 3. Vanderbilt will now have a chance to make amends for several other regular-season defeats this week, too.
“We look at the postseason as the start of a new season; it’s season No. 3 for us,” said head coach Melanie Balcomb. “And we’re now 1-0 this season.”
Vanderbilt came into the tournament with some momentum after the Commodores ended an eight-game losing streak by upsetting No. 24 Missouri on Sunday afternoon in their regular-season finale.
Wednesday’s victory was perhaps equally impressive, as Vanderbilt dominated the contest from the outset.
“The win over Missouri was definitely a huge confidence booster for us,” said point guard Minta Spears. “And we re excited about the opportunity to get a second chance to play some of these teams that beat in the regular season.”
Vanderbilt took charge in the opening moments by reeling off 18 straight points after Ole Miss scored the game’s opening basket. Reed scored eight points during the early surge, including a pair of 3-pointers.
The hot start for the Commodores set the tone for what proved to be a lopsided victory, and Vanderbilt walk-on Myka Dancy eventually supplied the exclamation point by hitting a jumper in the final minute.
Dancy’s basket — which created a big celebration on the VU bench — was a fitting moment for the Commodores. Less than 24 hours earlier, Balcomb had announced to the team that Dancy and fellow walk-on Miaya Seawright would be receiving scholarships next season.
