Nov. 9, 2007
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 17/22 Vanderbilt women’s basketball team opens the 2007-08 regular season at home Friday when UAB visits Memorial Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. CT tip-off.
Head Coach Melanie Balcomb’s Commodores posted a 28-6 record a year ago on their way to the school’s fifth Southeastern Conference Tournament championship. But with three All-SEC performers lost to graduation, Balcomb expects a new look from this year’s squad.
“This is the most athletic team that we have had at Vanderbilt,” Balcomb said. “Everybody has been preparing hard the entire preseason and we’re excited to get started.”
Ten sophomores and freshmen are vying for important roles on this year’s squad. Freshman Jence Rhoads and sophomores Jessica Mooney and Merideth Marsh all made starts in VU’s two exhibition wins.
The Commodores handily won both of their exhibition games, giving Balcomb an opportunity to play her entire roster. Still, Vanderbilt’s trio of upperclassmen — senior Liz Sherwood and juniors Christina Wirth and Jennifer Risper — all averaged in double-figures during the preseason.
Vanderbilt defeated UAB, 85-63, last year in Birmingham. The Commodores are 3-0 all-time against the Blazers, including a pair of victories during the 1985 and 1986 seasons.
Later this weekend, the Commodores play host to Furman on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 2 p.m.