Feb. 5, 2012
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team saw a different player reach the 20-point mark for the fourth time in the last five games as they defeated Mississippi State, 65-59, on Sunday, February 5, at Humphrey Coliseum. The Commodores improved to 18-5, 6-4 in SEC play, while the Lady Bulldogs fell to 13-10, 3-7 in league action.
Redshirt sophomore center Stephanie Holzer scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help Vanderbilt pull out the win. She was 9-11 from the field and connected on all three trips to the foul line.
Vanderbilt’s sophomore guards also made major contributions. Christina Foggie scored 17 points while Jasmine Lister scored eight and matched a career-high by dishing out nine assists.
Mississippi State was led by the pair of Diamber Johnson and Catina Bett, who scored 17 and 16 points, respectively. Martha Alwal grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. No Lady Bulldog managed more than two assists.
Comparatively, Vanderbilt dished out 21 helpers on 27 field goals and every Commodore who saw action had at least one assists. In addition to Lister’s nine helpers, Holzer and Foggie had three each, Clarke and Jordan Coleman had two each and Kady Schrann and Brown had one apiece.
The first half was the Stephanie Holzer show, as the center scored 11 points and 7 rebounds to help Vanderbilt overcome 14 turnovers in the period and lead 29-26 at the break.
Vanderbilt led by as many as 13 points during the opening frame, but the Lady Bulldogs showed quite a bit of fight. They forced four ties in the second half, but could never take the lead. The Commodores cut down on turnovers in the closing period, committing just five.
The contest was tied at 54 with 4:05 remaining, but the Commodores would outscore Mississippi State 11-5 over the final four minutes.
Holzer connected in the paint to give Vandy a 56-54 lead they would not relinquish. The next basket was a huge three from Lister with 2:45 left and that was followed by a jumper from Elan Brown that pushed the lead to 61-54.
After the teams traded baskets, Lister connected on a pair of foul shots to seal the deal. Johnson made a three-point play with seven seconds left to provide the final margin of 65-59.
The Commodores take a four-game winning streak into a home game with rival Tennessee on Thursday, February 9. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. at Memorial Gym.
