Feb. 27, 2011
Box Score | 2011 SEC Tournament Bracket 
COLUMBIA, S.C. – With a top four seed in the SEC Tournament on the line, Vanderbilt staged its biggest comeback of the season by rallying from 10 points down over the final 6:08 of the game to defeat South Carolina 74-60 in overtime on Sunday at Colonial Life Arena.
The win coupled with a Georgia loss and Kentucky win means the Commodores will be the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament. A loss would have meant Vanderbilt would have been the No. 5 seed in the tournament.
The 10-point deficit overcome was Vanderbilt’s largest of the season as the Commodores outscored South Carolina 36-12 over the final 6:08 of regulation and overtime.
“I just think that when our back is against the wall, we are a better team than when we relax,” Head Coach Melanie Balcomb said. “When we had our backs against the wall, you saw the best come out of us.”
Vanderbilt (19-10, 10-6 SEC) began its final run following a personal foul and technical foul on South Carolina (16-13, 8-8 SEC) center Jewel May, which resulted in her fifth personal foul and sent Stephanie Holzer to the line where she made 3-of-4.
The momentum shift seemed to be halted when Tiffany Clarke was whistled for a personal foul and a technical with 5:25 to play, which also resulted in her disqualification.
However, Clarke’s technical only added fuel to the fire as Vanderbilt scored 11 of the game’s next 13 points to tie the score at 52 with 2:30 to play.
With the score tied for the fifth time in the half, senior Jence Rhoads stepped forward after being held scoreless in the first 19 minutes of the second half.
It was Rhoads, who tied the game at 56 with 43 seconds to play. Neither team scored again in regulation.
In overtime Rhoads scored seven points to lift the Commodores’ to their second overtime win of the season, while the team made all five of its shot attempts in the overtime compared to USC making 1-of-11 attempts.
The win also snapped a two-game losing skid and was Vanderbilt’s fourth in a row on the road after starting the season 2-7 on the road.
Vanderbilt has won five straight at South Carolina and nine of the last 10 in the series.
Vanderbilt was paced by Stephanie Holzer’s 19 points and Rhoads’ 15 points. Rhoads also had eight rebounds and six assists as Vanderbilt shot 54.0 percent from the floor. Elan Brown also came off the bench to score 12 points and grab eight rebounds in 22 minutes. At the start of overtime, Brown hit a three to give Vanderbilt the lead for good, 59-56. The lead was Vanderbilt’s first since leading 2-0.
“When Elan hit that three I could just see Jence Rhoads relax,” Balcomb said.
As the No. 3 seed, Vanderbilt will play at 9:00 p.m. CT on Friday at Bridgestone Arena against the winner of the No. 6/11 first-round matchup.
Vanderbilt trailed by two at the half and tied the game four times in the first 6:40 of the second half, but was unable to take the lead despite having multiple chances.
With Vanderbilt unable to capitalize, South Carolina reeled off a 10-0 run to go in front 46-36 with 8:44 to play. The 10-point lead was its largest of the game.
Trailing 48-38, Vanderbilt would go on its decisive run.
The Commodores had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Gabby Smith’s final shot attempt in the lane hit off the side of the rim,.
Vanderbilt started off slowly in the first half and trailed by as many as nine points on two occasions in the first half before rallying with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 26 with 17 seconds to play.
However, South Carolina would have the last basket of the half and took a 28-26 lead into the locker room. Vanderbilt’s only lead of the half was 2-0.
Notes
– Vanderbilt has won nine of the last 10 meetings in the series.
– Vanderbilt has won five straight at South Carolina.
– Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 21-6.
– The four-game winning streak on the road is its longest in SEC play since 2007-08 when the Commodores won five in a row away from home.
