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Vanderbilt Tops Savannah State 91-40 1-5-04 1/5/2004 The Vanderbilt Commodores closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule by routing the Savannah State Lady Tigers 91-40 on Monday night in Memorial Gym. VU extended their non-conference home winning streak to 43 games. Five ‘Dores scored in double figures for the first time this season. Junior Abi Ramsey, in just her second home game this season, led the Black and Gold with 20 points on 6-10 shooting from behind the three-point arc, tying a career high for threes. Vanderbilt opened the contest by utilizing the long ball as three straight three-pointers, one by freshman Cherish Stringfield and two straight from Ramsey, gave VU a quick 9-0 lead and forced Savannah State to call a 30-second timeout with 17:40 remaining. Savannah State, a Division I independent, suffered from turnover problems early on as four SSU possessions ended in miscues, while the squad started 0-3 from the floor. The Commodore run to open the game continued as Ashley Earley scored a deuce on a backdoor cut before Ramsey tallied her third trey in the game’s opening five minutes to make the score 14-0 VU. The gap eventually grew to 16-0 before SSU’s Crystal Martin tallied the Lady Tigers’ opening field goal of the night after 5:31 had elapsed in the opening stanza. Five straight points by freshman Carla Thomas and six consecutive tallies by junior Ashley Earley boosted the VU advantage to 25-4 with 11:54 remaining in the first half. SSU was shooting only 2-of-12 from the field for 16.7% with six turnovers, while Vanderbilt was hitting at a .643 clip on 9-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. A pair of free throws by Stringfield, another Earley deuce and senior Hillary Hager’s 100th career three-pointer with 7:59 to play made the count 32-5. Hager joined Jenni Benningfield (130) and Abi Ramsey (108) as current Vanderbilt players with 100 or more career three-point buckets. The Lady Tigers continued to have problems with the basketball having suffered from 13 turnovers and shooting just 11.8 % (2-17) from the field with 4:41 remaining in the half. Limiting Savannah State to just 8.7% shooting in the first half, the ‘Dores held the Orange and Blue without a field goal for the final 13:42 of the period. By heading into the locker room up 52-6, Vanderbilt enjoyed its largest halftime edge in school history (surpassing the previous mark of 43 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee last season) and held the Orange and Blue to what is believed to be the fewest first half points by a Vanderbilt opponent. Another large part of the Black and Gold’s first half onslaught was its defense. The Lady Tigers committed 17 turnovers in the first stanza, resulting in 24 Commodore points. VU also had seven steals and dominated the rebounding margin, 22-10. Freshman Cherish Stringfield contributed a career-high six rebounds by halftime. Savannah State, which came into today’s contest allowing opponents to shoot at a .392 clip from the field, allowed Vanderbilt to shoot 48.6% in the first period. Heading into the locker room, Stringfield and Earley each had 10 tallies to lead the ‘Dores. Showing that it was not down for the count, Savannah State tacked on its first field goal in 16:30 when senior Crystal Martin nailed a three pointer to make the score 57-9. Vanderbilt would quickly answer with another Ramsey trey (her third of the game) to extend VU’s lead to 62-11 with just over fifteen minutes to go. With a bucket at the 13:59 mark of the second half, freshman forward Jenn Hall surpassed her career high for points. She finished with 13. Vanessa Ferragamo’s entrance into the game with just over eight minutes to play meant that every available Commodore participated in tonight’s game, the fifth time that has happened this year. Vanderbilt was without senior Jenni Benningfield and freshman Dee Davis, both out with stress reactions in their right feet. The pair traveled to North Carolina to have special orthotics fitted for their shoes to help lessen the pain of the injury. Despite the lopsided score, the Black and Gold continued hustling. Freshman Katie Antony hauled down a rebound with six and half minutes to play, ran upcourt only to get double teamed and called time out. On the ensuing play, she would make a crisp pass to fellow freshman Caroline Williams for a three-point bucket. The Commodores finished with 24 assists, one shy of equaling a season high. The 51-point margin of victory was the 16th-largest in school history and the biggest since another 51-point victory, 111-60, versus Austin Peay on New Year’s Eve in 1990. The most lopsided contest ever was a 111-40 rout of Wingate in 1995. Earley finished with 12 points and was a sharp 5-7 from the field. Freshman Carla Thomas contributed 11 points and was one of five Commodores that were perfect from the charity stripe. Stringfield had 10 in the effort in addition to five assists, two shy of tying a career high. Three Lady Tigers scored nine points each to lead the team: Martin, senior Tiffany Stephens, and junior Lateisha Barnett. Stephens’ four blocks was one shy of a season high. The trio helped Savannah State claw back to score 34 points in the second half in comparison to Vanderbilt’s 39. After losing to the Miami Hurricanes on December 29, the Commodores have outrebounded their opponents 88-58 and have outscored their opponents 152-92. The Commodores officially open the Southeastern Conference season on Thursday night when the Wildcats of Kentucky come to Memorial Gym. Game time is 7 p.m. |
