Dec. 12, 2014
Teams: Vanderbilt (6-2) at Elon (4-2)
Day, Date: Sunday, Dec. 14
Tip-off time: 1 p.m. (CT)
Site: Alumni Gym (Elon, N.C.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
Viewing: SEC Network Plus (online)
Ending an 11-day stretch between games, the Vanderbilt WBB team gets back to business on Sunday, traveling to Elon, N.C., to face the Phoenix. The Vanderbilt players, along with other members of the student body, took final exams this past week. The Commodores haven’t played since Dec. 3, when the Commodores rolled past Mississippi Valley State, 63-37, at Memorial Gym. Here are a few storylines surrounding Sunday’s game:
l SPECIAL GUESTS: When the Commodores take the floor to face Elon, they will be stepping into history: They will become the first SEC women’s team to ever pay a visit to Alumni Gym to play the Phoenix. (South Carolina has also visited Elon, but it was long before the Gamecocks joined the SEC).
l SCOUTING ELON: The Phoenix (4-2), of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), opened the season with four straight wins, but have since lost two straight. In their most recent contest, the Phoenix suffered an 84-51 road loss to NC State on Dec. 7. That defeat came eight days after Elon had been saddled with its first loss of the season — an 87-71 setback at High Point on Nov. 30. Prior to those two games, Elon had reeled off four straight wins, including an impressive road victory over Charlotte, along with home wins over Anderson University, Navy and Liberty. … Senior guard Zora Stephenson is Elon’s top scorer, averaging 12.3 points per game. Two other players are averaging double figures in scoring for the Phoenix — senior guard/forward Sam Coffer (10.5) and freshman guard Shay Burnett (10.2). Coffer is the team’s leading rebounder at 6.2 rpg, and has recorded a team-high 11 blocked shots. … For the season, the Phoenix are averaging 68.0 points per game and are surrendering 69.2 per contest. Elon is shooting just 40 percent from the floor as a team, but the defense has been solid, limiting opponents to just 37.3 percent shooting from the field, including 26 percent from 3-point range. … The Phoenix are an experienced team, with 11 of 12 letterwinners having returned from last year’s team, including four of the five starters. … Head coach Charlotte Smith is in her third year at Elon, and has posted a 50-44 overall record.
l SIZING UP THE SERIES: Today’s game represents just the second time that Vanderbilt and Elon have faced each other. The first meeting between the teams came on on “Black Friday” last year, when the Commodores rolled to an 88-66 victory in the opening round of the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament at Memorial Gym on Nov. 29. The now graduated duo of Jasmine Lister and Christina Foggie fueled the victory — with Lister scoring a game-high 22 points and Foggie adding 18 — but several of the current Commodores also contributed to the win. Marqu’es Webb had 10 points and six rebounds, and Morgan Batey added eight points and six boards. … The Commodores went 9-of-14 (64.3) from 3-point territory in the first half, with Foggie going 5-of-6. Vanderbilt shot 58 percent (20-of-34) from the floor overall while building a 55-31 halftime lead. Vanderbilt cooled off considerably in the second half, shooting just 40 percent from the floor (and going 2-of-7 from 3-point range) but still managed to maintain a comfortable cushion throughout the final 20 minutes. The Commodores used their height advantage to win the rebounding war, 41-28, and outscored Elon 38-26 in the paint.
l FREQUENT FLYERS: By the time Christmas rolls around, the Vanderbilt players will have become very accustomed to life on the road. The Commodores are about to embark on back-to-back road trips (to Elon on Sunday and to Marquette on Dec. 18), which will mark Vanderbilt’s fifth and sixth games away from home this season. During November, the Commodores made a trip to Wisconsin (Nov. 20), and then played three games in the Gulfcoast Showcase in Estero, Fla., during the Thanksgiving break. When the Commodores finally do play a game at Memorial Gym, hosting Dayton on Dec. 21, it will mark the end of a 26-day stretch that featured just one home game — last Wednesday’s win over Mississippi Valley State.
l BLOCK PARTY: After recording a total of just 24 blocked shots (an average of 0.8 per game) last season, the Commodores have shown dramatic improvement in that department this season. Through the first seven games, the Commodores are averaging 2.4 blocks per contest (19 total). Freshman Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau leads the team with nine blocked shots, which is two more than any Commodore posted for the entire season during the 2013-14 campaign. (Heather Bowe led the team with seven).
l GOOD GOING, GAFFNEY: After being slowed by two ACL injuries during her first two years at Vanderbilt, redshirt sophomore Kristen Gaffney is having a breakout season. The post player from Cary, N.C., is averaging 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, and she earned the first starting assignment of her career for last week’s game against Mississippi Valley State. She played 27 minutes in the 63-37 victory, and finished with four points and 10 rebounds. Gaffney missed the opening game of last month’s Gulf Coast Showcase with an injury, but she made a big splash when she returned. Gaffney was the Commodores’ leading scorer over the final two games of the tournament, scoring 27 total points while going 12-of-16 from the floor in Vanderbilt’s losses to No. 3 UConn and Arizona State. Gaffney scored 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting against UConn, and followed that up with a career-high 15 points against Arizona State. She was 6-of-6 from the floor against the Sun Devils. Gaffney pulled down five rebounds in each game.
