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Vanderbilt Maintains Spot In ESPN-USA TODAY coaches’ poll 1-6-04 1/6/2004 ‘Dores (12-1) Move Up One Position From Last Week to 22nd The Vanderbilt Commodores women’s basketball team (12-1), off to one of the best starts in school history, has climbed one spot in this week’s ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll. The Black and Gold entered the rankings for the first time last week at 23rd before suffering their initial defeat of the 2003-04 campaign to the unbeaten and #25 Miami Hurricanes (12-0), 79-57. The ‘Dores had received votes each week of the season before finally cracking the Top 25. Despite falling at homestanding Miami in the title game of the Gatorade Holiday Classic, VU bounced back with two consecutive victories, besting BIG EAST foe Syracuse 61-52, before giving the scoreboard at Memorial Gym a workout with a 91-40 drubbing of Savannah State. The two wins extended the Black and Gold’s non-conference home winning streak to 43 consecutive games, ensuring the skein will continue into next season. Against the Lady Tigers, the ‘Dores established a new record for largest scoring margin in the first half by heading to the locker room up an incredible 52-6 (+46). VU held SSU to just 8.7% shooting on 2-of-23 from the floor in the opening frame, forced 17 turnovers and kept Savannah State without a single made field goal for 16:41 spanning the two halves. SSU’s Tiffany Stephens tipped in a missed shot with 13:24 to go in the first half, marking the Lady Tigers’ last FG until a Crystal Martin three-pointer 3:17 into the second stanza. Texas Tech (14-0) topped this week’s poll with 27 first-place votes and 976 total points, followed by the Duke Blue Devils (10-1/10 first-place votes), who are fresh off a 68-67 upset of then-#1 UConn. Texas (12-1/two first-place votes), Connecticut (9-1/one first place vote) and Tennessee (10-1) fill spots three through five. Minnesota, Stanford, Penn State, Georgia and Louisiana Tech reside in spots six through 10, while Purdue, Kansas State, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia Tech round out spots 11-15. Big XII power Oklahoma is in 16th-position, followed by the Southeastern Conference’s LSU Tigers in 17th. Boston College, TCU and former Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster’s Ohio State Buckeyes complete the top 20. DePaul (12-1), who narrowly lost to Tennessee earlier this season, is 21st, while Vanderbilt climbs one spot to #22. Michigan State (10-2) lost to #8 Penn State 64-62 on Sunday and dropped one spot to #23. Utah and Miami, who upset then #24 Vanderbilt, complete this week’s poll. The Black and Gold fell out of this week’s Associated Press rankings after entering last week in 24th position. |
