Dec. 28, 2013
MONDAY’S GAME
Vanderbilt (10-2, 0-0 SEC) at UAB (8-4, 0-0 Conference USA)
Date: Monday, Dec. 30
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Birmingham, Ala.
Radio: 560 AM, 95.9 FM (Charlie Mattos)
TV: None
Live Stats:
Game Notes:
The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team will look to continue its run of December dominance — and perhaps set the tone for the new year, too — on Monday night when the surging Commodores (10-2) travel to Birmingham, Ala., to face the UAB Blazers (8-4).
Vanderbilt, which will carry a seven-game winning streak into the game, is looking to cap off a perfect December for the second consecutive season. The Commodores are 4-0 this month after posting a 6-0 mark last December. They have won 12 straight December games overall, and haven’t tasted defeat in the final month of the year since falling to N.C. State, 66-59, on Dec. 18, 2011.
Extending the streak isn’t likely to be easy for the Commodores, who will be facing a UAB team that has won six of its past seven games.
The Blazers have been especially tough at home, posting a 5-0 mark at Bartow Arena, including wins over Arizona and George Mason.
Karisma Chapman has lived up her to name by providing plenty of energy for the Blazers. She leads the team in both scoring (17.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg).
Head coach Randy Norton’s UAB squad — which opened the season with two straight losses but has gone 8-2 since — is averaging 65.8 points per game while surrendering just 57 points per game.
Vanderbilt comes into the game as one of the nation’s top scoring teams. Fueled by senior Christina Foggie, who leads the SEC in scoring at 18.0 points per game, the Commodores rank fourth in the SEC and 28th in the nation in scoring at 81.7 points per game. Vanderbilt also leads the SEC and ranks fifth in the nation in field-goal percentage (49.3).
When the Commodores take the floor Monday, they will be playing their first game in more than a week. Their most recent action was Dec. 21, when the Commodores downed UNC Asheville, 83-57, at Memorial Gym.
As is the case most years, Vanderbilt’s schedule in December was somewhat light because of a long layoff for final exams followed by the holiday break. The Commodores played just three games during a 3½-week stretch from Dec. 4 through Dec. 29.
SIZING UP THE SERIES
Vanderbilt enters today’s game with a 5-0 all-time record against UAB in a series that dates back to the 1985-86 season.
The most recent matchup between the teams came last season, when the Commodores downed the Blazers, 69-54, on Nov. 15 in Nashville.
Today marks the third time the Commodores have traveled to Birmingham to face UAB. The Commodores beat the Blazers, 85-63, in “the magic city” during the 2006-07 season and also posted a 76-60 win over UAB in the first-ever meeting between teams on Jan. 3, 1986 in Birmingham.
Vanderbilt’s other wins over UAB came in Nashville during the 1986-87 and 2007-08 seasons.
DAHLMAN REMAINS SIDELINED
Vanderbilt is without the services of freshman star Rebekah Dahlman, who is out indefinitely after undergoing two procedures to dissolve a blood clot earlier this month. No timetable has been set in regard to Dahlman’s return, and she will continue to be evaluated.
The freshman guard started the first nine games this season, averaging 11.4 points per game. Dahlman led the SEC and ranked 10th in the nation in 3-point percentage at 51.4 percent (18-of-35) at the time of her injury.
WHO DID WHAT
In Vanderbilt’s most recent game — an 83-57 win over UNC Asheville on Dec. 21 — freshman Kylee Smith scored a season-high 17 points, finishing 7-of-9 from the floor and pulling down six rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
It was the fourth time in the past six games the freshman from Alpharetta, Ga., has reached double figures.
Heather Bowe added 16 points in the win, and Jasmine Lister notched her 500th career assist to help highlight the victory that came before a crowd of 3,201 at Memorial Gym.
Sophomore Jasmine Jenkins added 12 points and Marqu’es Webb had 10 as the Commodores put four players in double figures.
Vanderbilt produced a season-high 28 assists in the victory. Lister finished with a team-high seven assists, including the 500th of her career when she fed Webb for a short jumper late in the first half.
“Jasmine has done nothing but overachieve since she (got to Vanderbilt),” said head coach Melanie Balcomb. “She’s set a standard here.”
