PHILADELPHIA — Vanderbilt forced Saint Joseph’s into 25 turnovers and got 18 points from Brinae Alexander in a 64-45 win at Hagan Arena on Tuesday.
The Commodores (8-5) led for the final 31:27 after taking an early lead en route to their third straight victory. Vandy senior guard Jordyn Cambridge filled up the stat sheet once again with 10 points, eight assists, six steals and five rebounds.
Vanderbilt took a 44-35 lead into the final frame before getting two straight buckets from Kaylon Smith to build the margin to 13. Iyana Moore’s 3-pointer from the left wing followed by an Alexander triple from the right side made it a 54-36 contest and virtually iced the affair.
Moore finished with 16 and was 4 of 8 from long range.
Vanderbilt returns home to host Alabama State (2-7) at 7 p.m. next Tuesday in its nonconference finale.
It took more than three minutes Tuesday for either team to dent the scoreboard and it was Saint Joseph’s Kaliah Henderson hitting the game’s first jumper to give the Hawks an early 2-0 lead. Vandy’s initial bucket didn’t come until the 3:45 mark when Alexander hit a left-corner 3.
The Commodores missed their first five shots of the game, but took a 6-5 lead on a Cambridge three-point play and then went up 12-5 on back-to-back Moore triples. Vandy had a 12-7 advantage to start the second period after forcing eight Saint Joseph’s turnovers and holding the Hawks to a 27-percent shooting clip from the floor.
Vandy took a 19-9 lead 2 1/2 minutes into the second period when Cambridge found a trailing Alexander at the top of the key and the senior guard buried another 3-pointer. The Hawks couldn’t cut the deficit to any smaller than eight until Henderson hit back-to-back jumpers making it a 24-19 game.
Vanderbilt tallied the final four points of the half to go into the locker room ahead 28-19. The Dores forced 15 turnovers in the first two quarters and held Saint Joseph’s to 31.8 percent from the floor.
Cambridge began the second half with a steal and layup making it a 30-19 lead for the visitors. A three-point play by the senior guard at the 4:11 mark put the Commodores up 41-27.
That proved too wide a gap for the home team to conquer.
Vanderbilt registered 15 assists on 26 made field goals and had a 32-18 advantage on points in the paint. Demi Washington added nine points and collected seven rebounds in the win.
Henderson led the Hawks (4-6) with 21. Saint Joseph’s shot 36.4 percent for the contest.
