NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Brinae Alexander scored 17 points, Jordyn Cambridge filled up the stat sheet and Vanderbilt axed Albany 52-41 on Wednesday at Memorial Gymnasium.
Alexander made four of her first five shots to spark the Commodores (6-5) to an early lead that they would hold onto for all but 48 seconds of the game. Cambridge scored 10 points to go along with 10 steals, five rebounds and four assists.
Vandy out-rebounded the Great Danes 36-24 and forced 24 turnovers. Head coach Shea Ralph’s team will be now off until Dec. 18 when Vanderbilt hosts Presbyterian (4-4).
The Commodores came out scorching the nets Wednesday by making five of their first seven shots; three of those were 3-pointers out of the hands of Alexander. Alexander’s fourth make of the opening period, from just inside the left side of the arc, gave Vandy a 20-7 lead.
But that bucket was Vandy’s last field goal over the final 3:59 of the period, and the Dores would have to settle for a 20-11 advantage going into the second.
That scoring drought stretched over the first 2:21 of the second quarter until Alexander hit a step-back, mid-range jumper to give the Dores a 22-11 lead. Vandy’s offensive struggles, however, would continue for the rest of the half—after scoring 20 points in the first 6:01 of the game, the Commodores were held to five over the next 14:59.
Taking a 25-16 lead into the third period, Vandy saw Albany charge back to get within six at 35-29 after Helene Haegerstrand’s left-corner 3. Iyana Moore answered with a triple on the other end to restore order for the home squad.
The Commodores had a 40-33 lead to start the fourth quarter and wouldn’t let the Great Danes get any closer. Albany was 3 of 11 from the field in the final quarter.
Haegerstrand paced Albany (3-4) with 11 points.
- Cambridge crossed the 400-point mark for her career during Wednesday’s contest. The senior now sits at 404 career points.
- Cambridge’s 10 steals were the second-most ever in a single Vanderbilt game. Eva Lemeh recorded 11 against Murray State on Dec. 13, 1980.
- Moore became one of 11 Commodores in the history of the program to score at least 100 points in her first 10 games. The freshman has 103 for the season.
- Alexander is five points from reaching 500 for her career.
- Attendance on Wednesday was announced as 3,688.
