Jan. 7, 2009
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The 24th-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team opens its 2009 Southeastern Conference schedule on Thursday, Jan. 8, traveling to face Alabama at 6 p.m. CT inside Coleman Coliseum.
After losing their final two non-conference contests — to then-No. 6 Notre Dame and in front of over 8,000 fans at Iowa State — the Commodores will welcome the opportunity to begin league play with a clean slate.
Last season, Vanderbilt lost three of its last seven non-conference contests before capturing a school-record 11 SEC victories. With the return six of their top seven scorers from 2008, the Commodores have been picked by both league coaches and media as the favorite to capture the SEC championship this year.
Senior forward Christina Wirth leads the Commodores in scoring at 14.8 points per game. The first-team All-SEC selection ranks third in the league in points per game and three-point shooting percentage. Sophomore Hannah Tuomi has been a force on the interior this season, adding 12.9 points per game while ranking first in the SEC in field-goal percentage.
After posting only eight overall wins and finishing last in the SEC a year ago, Alabama has built a 12-3 record through the non-conference portion of their 2008-09 schedule. Sophomore Tierney Jenkins has paced the Crimson Tide, averaging 11.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Vanderbilt’s 14-game SEC slate includes home-and-home series with Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia; away games at South Carolina, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Ole Miss; and home games against LSU, Arkansas, Florida and Auburn.
Following Thursday’s contest at Alabama, Vanderbilt returns home to play host to a pair of Sunday SEC contests as Tennessee (Jan. 11) and LSU (Jan. 18) visit Memorial Gymnasium on back-to-back weekends.
Tickets for all of Vanderbilt’s remaining games are available by calling 615-322-GOLD, online at vucommodores.com, or at the box office inside McGugin Center