Jan. 8, 2009
Vanderbilt 85 – Alabama 76
January 8, 2009 – Coleman Coliseum – Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Attendance: 1,486
With Thursday’s win, Vanderbilt moves to 12-4 overall and opens its Southeastern Conference season at 1-0. In her seventh season as VU’s Head Coach, Melanie Balcomb moves to 5-2 in conference openers. Overall, Vanderbilt holds an 18-9 record in its first SEC game of the year.
Vanderbilt scored 47 points in the first half, their highest output in the opening stanza since scoring 51 on Dec. 19 vs. Tennessee State. The Commodores shot 63 percent (17-of-27) in the first 20 minutes, marking the team’s best shooting half of the season.
Senior Christina Wirth posted the third double-double of her career, her first of the season, with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Wirth passed Carolyn Peck and Misty Lamb on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list to move into 18th place with 1,251 points for her career.
Sophomore Jence Rhoads posted a career-high with 12 points, including a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Rhoads also added seven assists against only one turnover. The Slippery Rock, Pa., native entered the week leading the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (currently at 3.14).
Six Commodores scored in double figures on Thursday, a feat last reached on Nov. 20, 2006, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Senior Jennifer Risper led the Commodores with 17 points, including 11 in the game’s final 11 minutes. Risper, Wirth, Rhoads, junior Merideth Marsh (15) and sophomores Chanel Chisholm (11) and Hannah Tuomi (12) all posted double-digit scoring nights.