Nov. 17, 2010
Vanderbilt Game Notes | Purchase Tickets
Coming off a convincing 80-55 win over Howard in the team’s season opener on Sunday, No. 23/20 Vanderbilt returns to the floor Thursday when the Commodores host Samford for a 7 p.m. tilt. The Bulldogs will be playing their second straight road game to open the season after falling 58-42 at Texas Tech on Monday.
Last Sunday, Vanderbilt won its 25th straight home opener and fifth straight season opener. The Commodores will look to move to 2-0 on Thursday when they face a Samford team that is picked to win the Southern Conference after advancing to the second round of the WNIT last year and finishing with a 23-11 overall record.
Vanderbilt is 1-0 all-time against Samford with the lone meeting coming Nov. 28, 2003 when the Bulldogs played in Vanderbilt’s annual Thanksgiving Tournament. The Commodores won the game 67-50.
Thursday’s game will be broadcast on 560 AM in Nashville with longtime play-by-play announcer Charlie Mattos on the call. Fans can also listen to or watch the game online by subscribing to Vanderbilt All-Access on VUCommodores.com.
Success in November
Under Head Coach Melanie Balcomb the Commodores are 42-4 in the month of November with all four losses occurring on the road. Vanderbilt is 3-2 when playing games on November 18, with its last victory coming against Southern Ill., last season.
Last Time Out
Led by redshirt freshman Stephanie Holzer’s 20 points and 11 rebounds in just 19 minutes of play, the Commodores defeated Howard 80-55 in its 2010-11 season opener. Vanderbilt shot 64 percent from the floor in the first half, while making 8-of-11 three-pointers. Meanwhile Howard shot just 29 percent from the floor in the first half as Vanderbilt opened up a 27-point half time lead.
Holzer finished the game 5-of-6 from the floor and 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. Holzer also had three blocked shots and two steals to go along with one turnover.
In addition to Holzer, three other players scored in double figures for Vanderbilt. Freshman guard Christina Foggie scored 13 of her 14 points in the first half, while fellow freshman guard Jasmine Lister scored 13 points and junior guard Angela Puleo, a transfer from Georgia added 11.
All four players were playing their first career games for the Commodores. Add freshman Tori Jarosz’s free throw to the mix and newcomers scored 59 of Vanderbilt’s 80 points.
The Commodores started two freshmen guards – Foggie and Lister. Vanderbilt was without the services of senior All-SEC guard Jence Rhoads, who strained her hamstring in Vanderbilt’s final exhibition game and is listed as day-to-day.
About Samford
Under the guidance of ninth-year Head Coach Mike Morris, the Bulldogs advanced to the second round of the WNIT last year before falling to Missouri State, 75-54. Samford’s program is only in its 14th year of existence and has posted 20-plus wins each of the last three seasons. The Bulldogs received 7 of 11 first place votes in the preseason SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs are led by senior guard Emily London, who was picked as the league’s preseason Player of the Year. Senior forward Savannah Hill also earned preseason All-SoCon honors. The Bulldogs were held to 33.3 percent shooting in a 58-42 loss at Texas Tech on Monday.
Vanderbilt vs. the SoCon
Vanderbilt is 19-6 all-time against teams from the Southern Conference. All six of Vanderbilt’s losses have come to Chattanooga. The Commodores sport an 11-2 record at home against teams from the Southern Conference. The last time Vanderbilt faced a team from the SoCon was in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament when Vanderbilt defeated Western Carolina, 73-44.
The last regular season game against a team from the SoCon was Nov. 28, 2008 when VU defeated Davidson 82-50 during the annual Thanksgiving Tournament. Head Coach Melanie Balcomb is 5-0 at Vanderbilt against teams from the SoCon.
Rhoads on the Mend
Senior Jence Rhoads is day-to-day with a right hamstring injury that occurred in Vanderbilt’s second exhibition game on Nov. 9.
Second Game Success
Since the 1990-91 season, the Commodores have only lost once in their second game of the year, a 63-51 defeat to Purdue on November 21, 1999.
Youth is Served
Vanderbilt started freshmen guards Jasmine Lister and Christina Foggie against Howard, marking the first time Vanderbilt has started two freshmen in the first game of the year since the 2003-04 season opener that Katie Antony and Dee Davis started.
Newcomers Contribute
Vanderbilt’s newcomers produced in a big way in Vanderbilt’s season-opening win. All four players, who scored in double figures against Howard were newcomers. In total 59 out of Vanderbilt’s 80 points were scored by newcomers.
Holzer Named SEC Frosh of the Week
After missing all of last season due to an ankle injury, redshirt freshman Stephanie Holzer earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors in the first game of her career. Holzer earned the honor on Nov. 15 after scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench against Howard on Nov. 14. She became the first Commodore to win the award since Tiffany Clarke did so on Jan. 4, 2010. Holzer was also the first Commodore to score 20-plus points and grab 10-plus rebounds in a game since Clarke did Dec. 28, 2009.
First Half Fireworks
Vanderbilt shot 64 percent from the floor and made 8-of-11 three-pointers in the first half in its game against Howard. Vanderbilt finished the half with 49 points, the most by the Commodores since scoring 52 first-half points against Tennessee State on Dec. 20, 2009.
