Nov. 4, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team has been ranked No. 20 by a national vote of coaches in the initial USA Today ESPN Division I Coaches’ Poll of the 2009-10 season, released Wednesday.
Vanderbilt was slated at No. 22 in the Associated Press Top 25, which came out last week.
Head Coach Melanie Balcomb’s Commodores will open the season next Sunday, Nov. 15, when Lehigh visits Memorial Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. CT tip-off. Before that, however, Vanderbilt will play one more exhibition game against Drury this Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Dores rallied to defeat NAIA national champion Union 69-48 last week behind 15 points each from junior point guard Jence Rhoads and freshman forward Tiffany Clarke.
Vanderbilt returns three starters from a team that went 26-9 last season and won the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the sixth time in the program’s history. The Commodores closed the year with a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 and were ranked No. 8 in the final USA Today ESPN Coaches’ Poll. Senior Merideth Marsh and junior Hannah Tuomi were both named preseason second-team All-SEC selections by league coaches last month.