Dec. 19, 2014
Teams: Vanderbilt (7-3) at Dayton (6-3)
Day, Date: Sunday, Dec. 21
Tip-off time: 2 p.m. (CT)
Site: Memorial Gym (Nashville, Tenn.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
Viewing: SEC Network Plus (online)
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased by calling 615-322-GOLD, visiting the McGugin Center ticket office or logging on to vucommodores.com.
Before taking the floor for Sunday’s game against Dayton, the members of the Vanderbilt women’s team might need to check to see if their home uniforms still fit. The Commodores haven’t played a game at Memorial Gym in 2½ weeks, dating back to a 63-37 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 3. That game, in fact, was Vanderbilt’s only home game during a nearly month-long stretch that goes back to Nov. 25. So, the Commodores are likely to have a little extra excitement about being at Memorial Gym on Sunday, when several holiday activities are planned for the game against Dayton. Here are a few storylines surrounding the contest:
l SANTA, SWEATERS AND STUFFED ANIMALS: WIth the countdown to Christmas quickly dwindling, Sunday’s game will have a special holiday flare. The Vanderbilt women’s program will be hosting the annual Teddy Bear Toss, which is always one of the most popular events of the year. Fans are encouraged to purchase new Teddy Bears and other stuffed animals to bring to the gym. At halftime, fans can participate in a contest in which they will attempt to throw the stuffed animals toward a target at midcourt. The person with the closest toss will receive a Vanderbilt prize pack. More importantly, all of the stuffed animals from the contest will be donated to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital as Christmas presents. The Vanderbilt players will deliver the stuffed animals to the hospital. … Vanderbilt fans, especially the younger ones, will be excited to see a special guest at Sunday’s game: Ol’ Saint Nick himself. He’ll be in hanging out in the Southeast Lobby for about 45 minutes before tipoff, and will then help assist with the Teddy Bear Toss at halftime. … Finally, Sunday’s game is also “Ugly Sweater Day” at Memorial Gym. All fans who wear their most gaudy Christmas sweater to the game can get a ticket for the discounted price of $5.
l LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK: The Commodores enter Sunday’s game hoping to get back on track after suffering a disappointing 80-67 road loss to Marquette. (Game details below). History suggests that Vanderbilt is in the perfect spot to bounce back, considering the way that the Commodores generally perform in home games against non-conference foes. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the Commodores have gone 35-1 against non-conference foes at Memorial Gym during the regular season, including 4-0 this year. (The lone loss in that span was last year’s loss to Marquette in Nashville). Dating back to the arrival of head coach Melanie Balcomb prior to to the 2002-03 season, the Commodores own a 85-7 record on their home floor in regular-season non-conference games.
l DAYTON’S SEASON TO DATE: The Flyers (6-3), of the Atlantic 10 conference, roll into Nashville on a five-game winning streak that has included home wins over Providence, Purdue, Toledo and Central Michigan, along with a road win over Wright State. … Dayton opened the season with three losses in its first four games, including falling to Washington State, Gonzaga and Iowa. All three defeats came on the road. … Dayton has scored 70 or more points in six of its past seven games.
l SCOUTING THE FLYERS: The Dayton roster features one of the country’s most dangerous offensive players, Andrea Hoover. The 5-9 senior guard, who was last year’s Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, is averaging 19.9 points per game this season (which ranks among the Top-30 in the nation). She is shooting 48.1 percent (25 of 52) from 3-point range this season. She is also Dayton’s top rebounder at 8.4 per game. … Dayton senior Ally Malott, a 6-4 post player, is averaging 16.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, ranking second on the team (behind Hoover) in each category. … Hoover and Malott were both preseason First Team Atlantic-10 selections. … As a team, the Flyers are shooting just 40.8 percent from the floor. However, their defense has been stout, limiting opponents to just 36 percent from the field.
l SIZING UP THE SERIES: Sunday’s game marks the seventh all-time match-up between the Commodores and the Flyers, with Vanderbilt owning a 5-1 lead in the series. … The most recent contest in the series was last season, when Vanderbilt rolled to an 82-52 win at Memorial Gym on Nov. 24. … The teams meet for the first time during the 1987-88 season. The Commodores posted an 82-67 victory in that game to start a four-game win streak in the series. … Vanderbilt downed Dayton again during the 1988-89, winning 71-57 in Dayton. … The series then took a 10-year break before the teams meet again during the 1998-99 season, with VU earning a 59-50 win in Dayton. The next year, VU won 86-46 in Nashville. … Dayton’s lone win in the series came during the 2012-13 season, when the Flyers downed the Commodores, 71-66 in Dayton.
l LOOKING BACK: In last season’s matchup between Vanderbilt and Dayton, the Commodores used some red-hot shooting to sail past the Flyers, 82-52, at Memorial Gym. The Commodores (4-2) shot 57 percent from the floor, including going 8-of-11 (72 percent) from 3-point range, and went 20-of-22 (90 percent) from the foul line. Rebekah Dahlman scored a team-high 17 points and Christina Foggie added 16. Morgan Batey added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds, and freshman Marques Webb also had 10 points. The game was tied 18-18 before Vanderbilt closed the first half with a 15-5 run to build a 33-23 lead. The Commodores then opened the second half with 17-8 spurt to push the advantage to 50-31, and they maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way. Dayton’s Ally Malott, who came into the game averaging 17.3 points per game, was held to five points on 2-of-9 shooting. Cassie Sant led the Flyers with 20 points.
l LEAVING THEIR MARK: Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb and Dayton head coach Jim Jabir have several things in common — they are both the all-time win leaders at their current school, and they both routinely lead their teams to the NCAA tournament. (Balcomb has guided the Commodores to the NCAA tourney in each of the past 12 seasons, and Jabir has directed to the tournament in each of the past five seasons). … Balcomb, who is in her 13th season at VU, has a record of 284-121 with the Commodores (and a 447-225 overall record). Jabir, who arrived at Dayton prior to the 2003-04 season, has a record of 210-133 at Dayton and 430-356 overall mark in his 27 seasons as a head coach. Jabir, the first male coach in the history of the Dayton WBB program, has led to Dayton to back-to-back A-10 regular-season titles the past two seasons.
l TOUGH TO TAKE: In their most recent game, the Commodores were dealt a disappointing defeat, falling to Marquette, 80-67, in Milwaukee on Thursday afternoon. Marquette carried a a four-game losing skid — and a No. 253 RPI ranking — into the contest, but surprised the Commodores with an energetic performance. Marquette shot 50 percent from the floor (32-of-64), which marked only the third time this season thatVanderbilt has allowed an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better. The Commodores, conversely, shot 43 percent from the floor, including only 39percent in the first half. Kristen Gaffney and Rebekah Dahlman finished with 13 points each for Vanderbilt. … Marquette led 45-34 at the half and was up by as many as 17 in the second half. Vanderbilt then mounted a huge comeback, and trimmed the deficitto 69-65 after a 3-pointer by Dahlman with 4:58 to play. Marquette, however, responded with a 9-0 run to reestablish control. … The Commodores endured a frustrating first half, shooting just 39 percent (9-of-23) from the floor while allowing Marquette to shoot 52 percent (52.6). … Tia Elbert, Kenisha Bell and Apiew Ojulu scored 14 points each for Marquette, which suffered a home loss to Northern Kentucky on Monday butbounced back effectively from that loss with a big performance against the Commodores. .
