Jan. 24, 2015
Teams: Vanderbilt (11-8, 2-4) at Alabama (12-9, 1-5)
Day, Date: Sunday, Jan. 25
Tip-off time: Noon (CT)
Site: Foster Auditorium (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
TV: Fox Sports Net
The two victories that the Vanderbilt women have posted in SEC play have come about in highly different ways: The first included an explosive offensive performance; the second featured a determined defensive effort. This weekend, the Commodores are hoping to put the two elements together when they travel to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama (12-9, 1-5) at noon on Sunday. Vanderbilt, which is seeking its first SEC road win, is coming off a 55-53 win over Arkansas on Thursday night at Memorial Gym. The Commodores trailed by 12 points in the second half but held the Razorbacks without a field goal over the final 12:26 of the game to post the comeback victory. (More on the game below). The victory didn’t resemble Vanderbilt’s previous conference win — an uptempo 78-62 win over Mississippi State. On Sunday, Vanderbilt will be facing an Alabama team that earned its first SEC win on Thursday night with a 51-50 victory over Auburn. The contest featured an altercation between Auburn’s Hasina Muhammad and Alabama’s Breanna Hayden, who were both suspended for one game by the NCAA. After consultations with the two schools, the SEC tacked on an additional one-game suspension for the two players. Here are a few storylines surrounding Sunday’s game:
l WORKING FOR THE SWAT TEAM: It’s been a long time since Vanderbilt had a shot-blocking specialist, but freshman Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau is beginning to earn that label. The 6-3 post player from Canada swatted five shots on Thursday night to become the first Vanderbilt player to block five or more shots in a game game since Liz Sherwood had six against LSU on Jan. 10, 2008. For the season, Caron-Goudreau has blocked 19 shots, which leads the team by a wide margin. Surprisingly, Paris Kea, who is among the shortest players Vanderbilt roster at 5-9, ranks second on the team with seven. The Commodores have 50 blocked shots for the season for an average of 2.6 per game. That’s a huge jump from last season, when the Commodores ranked last in the country (343rd) with a total of just 24 (an average of 0.8 per game) for the year.
l STAYING INSIDE THE ARC: Throughout head coach Melanie Balcomb’s tenure, the Commodores have relied heavily on their 3-point shooting. This season? Not so much. Especially not on their home floor. In the past three games at Memorial Gym — wins over Mississippi State, Alabama-Huntsville and Arkansas — the Commodores have attempted a total of just 14 shots from 3-point range for an average of 4.6 per game. (By comparison, Vanderbilt has attempted a total of 40 three-pointers in its past three road games). In two of the recent home games — against MSU and Arkansas — the Commodores did not attempt a single 3-pointer in the second half. Prior to the Mississippi State game, it had been almost four years since Vanderbilt played an entire half without taking a 3-pointer, dating back to a 55-50 win over LSU on Feb. 3, 2011.
l THEY’RE WITH US: Vanderbilt will have some extra support Sunday in Tuscaloosa. A big group of Commodore fans are making the road trip to Alabama, traveling on the Hoops Crew Rally Bus. The group is leaving Nashville early Sunday morning.
l SCOUTING THE TIDE:Alabama has struggled on offense this season, and ranks 13th among the 14 SEC teams with an averaging 62.7 points per game. The Tide is last in the league in field goal percentage (37.9) and 3-point percentage (24.6). Alabama also ranks 13th in the SEC in free throw percentage (61.8) and assists (11.6 apg). … The Tide is strong on the glass, though, ranking seventh in the conference in offensive rebounds (15 rpg) and fifth in defensive rebounds (26.4 rpg). … Ashley Williams, a 6-0 sophomore post player, leads Alabama in both scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg). … Alabama will play Sunday’s game without sophomore guard Breanna Hayden, who will be serving a suspension after getting into an altercation with Auburn’s Hasina Muhammad on Sunday.
l SIZING UP THE SERIES:Sunday’s game marks the 42nd all-time meeting between the teams. … Vanderbilt owns a 29-12 lead in the series, which dates back to the 1977-78 season … The Commodores are 11-7 all-time against the Tide in Tuscaloosa. … Head coach Melanie Balcomb owns a 13-2 mark against Alabama since arriving at Vanderbilt, including a 5-1 record in Tuscaloosa. … The Tide won the most recent meeting between the teams, posting a 66-62 victory last season in Nashville. It was Alabama’s first-ever win at Memorial Gym after 17 straight losses in the historic building (More on that game below). … Vanderbilt had won 12 straight games in the series prior to Alabama’s win last season. … The Commodores have gone 17-2 against Alabama since the start of the 1999-2000 season.
l ALABAMA’S SEASON TO DATE. The Tide posted an 11-4 mark in non-conference play but then dropped its first five SEC games. Alabama then ended the skid by beating Auburn on Sunday. … During the five-game losing streak, Alabama faced four ranked opponents, including No. 1 South Carolina, along with Kentucky, Georgia and Mississippi State. … The Tide posted non-conference wins over Kansas, Georgetown and Temple in November, but lost at home to Mercer in mid-Decemeber. … The Tide has played 14 home games, going 9-5. They are 1-3 on the road and 2-1 at neutral sites. … Alabama played eight straight home games from Dec. 2 through Jan. 1 (with seven games at Foster Auditorium and one at Coleman Coliseum, the home court of the men’s team).
l LOOKING BACK: In last season’s matchup, Alabama earned its first-ever win at Memorial Gym with a 66-62 victory on Feb. 23. Alabama’s Daisha Simmons, who finished with a team-high 21 points, scored a basket with 14 seconds left to give the Tide a four-point lead and essentially seal the game for Alabama. Former Vanderbilt standout Christina Foggie scored a game-high 22 points. She was 7-of-19 from the floor, including 3-of-12 from 3-point range. Jasmine Lister had seven points and eight assists. Freshman Kylee Smith had one of her best games of the season, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds. Trailing 59-50 with 5:56 to play, the Commodores roared back with a 10-3 run — which featured two baskets by Foggie and one each by Smith and Heather Bowe — to pull within 62-60 on Foggie’s layup with 1:14 to go. But Alabama held on in the final minute.
l MOST RECENT GAME: VU RALLIES PAST ARKANSAS: Holding Arkansas without a field goal over the final 12:26 of the second half, the Commodores rallied for a gritty 55-53 victory on Thursday night at Memorial Gym. Vanderbilt (11-8, 2-4) closed the game on a 20-7 run to overcome an 11-point deficit against the Razorbacks (11-7, 1-5), who missed their final 18 field goal attempts of the game. Rebekah Dahlman’s layup with 1:48 remaining gave Vanderbilt its first lead of the night, 49-47, and the Commodores held on from there during an eventful finish. Vanderbilt, which trailed 32-23 at the half, improved to 8-2 at home. Rachel Bell and Kristen Gaffney finished with 11 points each for the Commodores, who did not attempt a 3-pointer in the second half. Kelcey Brooks, the SEC’s leading scorer, had a game-high 20 points for the Razorbacks. Freshman Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau finished with five blocked shots. She is the first Vanderbilt player to block five or more shots in a game since Liz Sherwood had six against LSU on Jan. 10, 2008. Gaffney came off the bench to play a pivotal role for the Commodores, going 5-of-8 from the floor. In addition to her 11 points, she filled out her stat line with four rebounds. three assists, two blocks, one steal. Arkansas owned a 46-35 lead after Brooks hit a 3-pointer with 12:26 remaining, but the Razorbacks were then held scoreless for more than nine minutes. During the Razorbacks’ drought, Vanderbilt flipped a 47-39 deficit into a 51-47 lead. Arkansas closed the gap to one point on two occasions in the final 35 seconds, but the Commodores escaped with the win when Jessica Jackson missed a jumper just before the buzzer.
l INJURY REPORT: Christa Reed, Khaléann Caron-Goudreau and Kendall Shaw have each been sidelined by injuries over the past two weeks, which continues a season-long theme for the Commodores. Only twice in the first 19 games has head coach Melanie Balcomb had the luxury of having all 13 of her players available for action (the two games were against Tennessee and LSU). Overall, a total of seven Vanderbilt players — more than half the roster — have been sidelined this season due to injuries, illness or other reasons. Khaléann Caron-Goudreau has missed the most time, sitting out the first 12 games of the season while recovering from an ankle injury and then missing the past four games. Others who have missed multiple games include junior Heather Bowe (who was unavailable for the first eight games while serving a suspension for violation of academic policy), sophomore Marqu’es Webb (who missed four games in December with a knee injury) and Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (who missed three games in December after sustaining a concussion in practice). Bell and Shaw have both been sidelined the past three games. Freshman Rachel Bell and redshirt sophomore Kristen Gaffney have missed one game each with illness.
l STARTING TO LOOK FAMILIAR: The Commodores appear to have settled on a starting five. The combination of Rebekah Dahlman, Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau, Jasmine Jenkins Heather Bowe and Morgan Batey has formed the starting five in each of the past five games, which is the longest stretch of the season in which the same group has been used. (The combination of Batey, Caron-Goudreau, Dahlman, Paris Kea and Marqu’es Webb started four straight games in late November). Prior to recent stabilization, the Commodores’ starting lineup was in constant flux, as injuries and inconsistent play caused head coach Melanie Balcomb to use eight different combinations through the first 14 games. The first change to the lineup came in just the second game of the season, and it changed again in the fourth game. From there, new combinations were used in Game 8, Game 9, Game 11, Game 13 and Game 14. All told, 10 of the 13 players on the Vanderbilt roster have seen their names in the starting lineup in various games this season, with Morgan Batey being the lone Commodore to start all 18 games.
