Feb. 2, 2016
Teams: Vanderbilt (15-6, 4-4) vs. Auburn (14-8, 4-5)
Day, Date: Thursday, Feb. 4
Tip-off time: 6 p.m.
Site: Auburn Arena (Auburn, Ala.)
Radio: 560 AM / 95.9 FM
Viewing: SEC Network-Plus (online)
Game Notes: Vanderbilt Game Notes (Auburn) 
The Vanderbilt women have been one of the SEC’s most-successful road teams this season — and they will be looking to continue that trend during the next few days. The Commodores (15-6, 4-4), who are tied with rival Tennessee for sixth place in the SEC standings, travel to Auburn on Thursday night and visit Arkansas on Monday. Vanderbilt is 4-4 on the road this season, including 2-2 in SEC play (winning at Alabama and at Kentucky). Only three teams in the conference — South Carolina, Florida and Missouri — have more total road wins this season than Vanderbilt. During their upcoming two-game road trip, the Commodores will visit two cities where they have enjoyed favorable results during head coach Melanie Balcomb’s tenure. Balcomb, in fact, has never lost a game at Auburn — going 7-0 — and her teams have won four of their past five games in Fayetteville, Ark. Here’s a closer look at Thursday’s game at Auburn:
l Update on the Commodores: Vanderbilt enters Thursday’s game looking to bounce back from a 64-58 loss to Georgia on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gym. Georgia, which is ranked No. 1 in the nation in 3-point defense, limited the Commodores to just 4-of-14 shooting from 3-point range. … The Commodores, who were predicted for an 11th-place finish in the conference, are tied with Tennessee for sixth place. Vanderbilt is only a half-game out of fifth and one game out of fourth … Prior to Sunday’s loss to Georgia, the Commodores had reeled off four wins in their previous five games, including a road victory over then-No. 12 Kentucky last Thursday night. … With seven games remaining on the regular-season schedule, the Commodores have already matched their win total from last season, when they finished 15-16 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. Vanderbilt is also just one SEC victory away from matching last season’s conference win total. (VU finished 5-11) … The upset of Kentucky was VU’s first road win over a ranked opponent since Dec. 16, 2012, when they won at Oklahoma. … Vanderbilt has gone 14-4 since Nov. 22.
l The skinny on Thursday’s game: With the middle of the conference standings extremely crowded, Thursday’s game has a high level of significance for both Auburn and Vanderbilt. Currently, half of the teams in the conference (eight of 16) are separated by just one game in the win column: Texas A& M and Missouri have five wins each, while six teams — including Vanderbilt and Auburn — have posted four wins. … Vanderbilt has won nine straight games on Auburn’s home floor, including two wins at Auburn Arena (2011-12 and 2013-14) and seven wins at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers, however, have defeated the Commodores in each of the past two seasons, with both wins coming at Memorial Gym in Nashville.
l What’s trending for VU: Vanderbilt is having one of the best statistical seasons in team history, with the Commodores ranking among the nation’s Top-15 in three significant categories: They are No. 10 in the country in field-goal percentage at 46.7 percent, No. 15 in 3-point accuracy at 37.0 percent and No. 13 in the nation in defense, allowing 52.9 points per game. Vanderbilt leads the SEC in field-goal percentage, and ranks second in the conference in 3-point percentage and defense. … Vanderbilt has held its opponents to less than 50 percent shooting in 20 of its 21 games this season. (South Carolina is the lone exception. The Gamecocks shot exactly 50 percent in a win over VU on Jan. 7). … The Commodores have out-rebounded their opponents in 16 of their 21 games this season.
l Star Power: Sophomore sharpshooter Christa Reed is putting together a terrific season. Reed, who is averaging a team-high 11.3 points per game, is leading the SEC — and ranked No. 5 in the nation — in 3-point accuracy at 46.0 percent. … Sophomore Rachel Bell is also averaging double-figures in scoring at 10.1 ppg. … Point guard Minta Spears ranks fifth in the SEC in assists (4.6 apg) and fourth in the SEC in minutes played (33.2 mpg). … Junior Marque’s Webb is VU’s top rebounder at 5.3 per game. She is averaging 8.8 rebounds in the past four games. … Kendall Shaw has seen action in seven of VU’s eight SEC games, and is shooting 50 percent from the floor (11-of-22) in those games.
l Scouting Auburn: Auburn, which posted a 63-53 road win over LSU on Monday night, has three players averaging double figures in scoring: Brandy Montgomery at 15.5 ppg, Tra’Cee Tanner at 13.2 and Katie Frerking at 11.8. … Tanner leads the SEC and ranks fourth in the nation in field-goal percentage at 61.7, and Frerking leads the conference in steals. … The Tigers are 11th in the conference in defense (allowing 60.5 points per game) and 12th in offense (scoring 64.7 pg). … Auburn’s defense has produced some impressive numbers, with the Tigers ranked fifth in the nation — and second in the SEC — in steals (261) and ninth in the nation in steals per game (11.9). Auburn also ranks 16th in the nation in turnovers forced per game at 21.2. … Four of Auburn’s five SEC losses have come against ranked opponents. The lone exception was a 64-30 loss to Georgia.
l Sizing up the Series: Thursday’s game marks the 47th all-time meeting between Vanderbilt and Auburn, with the Commodores owning a 28-18 lead into the series. … Auburn has won the past two match-ups, with both wins coming in Nashville. … Vanderbilt has won nine straight games in Auburn, with two of the wins coming at Auburn Arena and the previous seven at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum, which opened in 2011-12. … VU owns a 10-8 all-time record on Auburn’s home floor. … The Commodores won 21 consecutive games (spanning 14 years) in the series before falling to the Tigers 68-62 on Feb. 13, 2014 at Memorial Gym. … Head coach Melanie Balcomb is 18-2 against the Tigers since arriving at Vanderbilt, including 7-0 against them in Auburn. … The series dates back to the 1977-78 season, which was Vanderbilt’s first official season of WBB.
l Last year’s game vs. Auburn: Auburn’s Jazmine Jones, who came into the night averaging 2.5 points per game, went 10-of-11 from the floor while scoring a game-high 21 points to lead the Tigers to a 70-58 victory over the Commodores at Memorial Gym on Feb. 28, 2015. Jones also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and had three steals. Auburn’s Brandy Montgomery finished with 16 points and Katie Frerking had 13 points and seven rebounds. Marqu’es Webb led Vanderbilt with 13 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with 2:20 to play. Jones, coming off the bench, went 5-of-5 from the floor in the first half, then scored 11 more points — and pulled down eight of her nine rebounds — in the second half. Vanderbilt owned an 11-point lead just past the midway mark of the first half, but the Tigers put together a 21-6 run — which started with seven straight points by Montgomery — to carry a 30-26 lead into the half. Auburn maintained the lead throughout the final 20 minutes, holding off a late Vanderbilt rally. Vanderbilt’s leading scorer Rebekah Dahlman was limited to four points and finished 1-of-8 from 3-point range.
l VU’s most recent game: Hounded by a Georgia team that is ranked No. 1 in the country in 3-point defense, Vanderbilt was unable to get its perimeter attack on track during a 64-58 loss to the Lady Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gym. The Commodores (15-6, 4-4) entered the day leading the SEC — and ranked 12th nationally — in 3-point accuracy. But they finished just 4-of-14 from long range against the Lady Bulldogs (16-6, 4-5), who are limiting opponents to 22.9 percent shooting from behind the arc. Georgia’s Shacobia Barber finished with a game-high 15 points, Caliya Robinson added 14 and Tiaria Griffin had 13 to help the Lady Bulldogs earn their first win in Nashville since Feb. 19, 2006. Robinson provided what was perhaps the game’s biggest basket when she converted a short jumper with 21 seconds remaining to give the Lady Bulldogs a five-point lead. That basket essentially ended the comeback hopes for the Commodores after they had trimmed a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to three points on three occasions down the stretch. Christa Reed paced Vanderbilt with 12 points. Reed, who leads the SEC in 3-point percentage, went 2-of-4 from long range, but the rest of the Commodores combined to go just 2-of-10.Rebekah Dahlman had 11 points and five rebounds for Vanderbilt, and Morgan Batey had 10 points and five boards.
