Jan. 24, 2010
No. 21/20 Vanderbilt 56, Mississippi State 65
Memorial Gym, January 24, 2010
Pregame Notes
– The Commodores and the Lady Bulldogs are meeting for the 43rd time overall.
– Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, 29-13. The Commodores had won five straight meetings before dropping the past two games in Starkville.
– From 1984-1995, the Commodores won 14 straight games – VU’s longest SEC winning streak until last season when they beat Auburn for the 15th straight time.
– Vanderbilt is 16-1 at home against MSU, with the Dores’ lone loss coming in 1981. The Commodores have beaten the Lady Bulldogs 14 straight times in Nashville.
Postgame Notes
– With the loss, Vanderbilt falls to 14-6, 3-4 in SEC play. Mississippi State moves to 13-7, 4-3 in SEC play.
– This loss snaps Vanderbilt’s 10-game SEC home win streak. They are now 9-2 at home this season, 2-1 in SEC play.
– Jence Rhoads led all scorers with a career high 20 points. She also contributed two rebounds and three assists.
– Merideth Marsh had 11 points for the Commodores, which now totals 1,120 for her career. All 11 of Marsh’s points came in the second half. She also added six rebounds and three assists.
– VU shot over 80% from the charity stripe for the game and outrebounded the Bulldogs 40-39. They are now 6-1 when outrebounding their opponent.
– Senior Lauren Lueders contributed nine points and seven rebounds for the ‘Dores.
First Half
– Tiffany Clarke started the game off right for the Commodores, getting a quick and-one at the 19:04 mark of the first half. She made the free throw for a 3-point play.
– Merideth Marsh had a great dish inside to Jence Rhoads at the 17:58 mark of the first half. It was followed by a sweet 3-pointer by Lauren Lueders at the 17:32 mark.
– Elan Brown scored her first bucket of the game a little more than ten seconds after being subbed in. She got a quick jumper at the 13:46 mark of the first half.
– The Commodores were held scoreless for over two minutes before Elan Brown gave VU some much-needed offense with a jumper at the 5:13 mark of the first half.
– Jence Rhoads continued to lead the Commodores in the first half, scoring on a quick layup at the 2:41 mark of the first half.
– Lauren Lueders hit her second bucket of the game at the 1:23 mark of the first half, a jumper in the closing seconds of the shot clock.
– Jence Rhoads scored ten points in the first half, including a great jumper with 18 seconds remaining in the first half. She led all scorers at the half.
– Merideth Marsh dished three assists and grabbed five boards in the first half. Lauren Lueders matched her fellow senior Marsh’s five rebounds.
– The Commodores are 2-3 when trailing at halftime.
– Vanderbilt outrebounded Mississippi State at halftime, 20-17. The Commodores are 6-0 when outrebounding their opponents.
– VU led 10-2 at the 13:41 mark in the first half. Mississippi State went on a 21-6 run over the next 7:26. Vanderbilt came storming back, going on a 6-2 run in the last three minutes of the half. They trailed Mississippi State 27-24 at halftime.
Second Half
– The Commodores had a bit of a slow start to the second half, but were able to capitalize at the 17:44 mark of the second half with a jumper by Jence Rhoads.
– Rhoads bookended her earlier shot with another jumper at the 17:11 mark of the second half.
– Merideth Marsh had a jumper and-one at the 14:38 mark of the second half. She made her free throw to complete the three-point play. These were her first points of the game after missing her first nine shots.
– Marsh bookended her offensive effort with a 3-pointer at the 13:55 mark of the second half to tie the game at 36.
– Hannah Tuomi had an off-balance layup at the 9:49 mark of the second half. This bucket marked her first points of the game, bringing Vanderbilt within two.
– Vanderbilt was down by its largest deficit of nine, but began to chip away at the Bulldog lead with a 3-pointer by Merideth Marsh at the 5:59 mark of the second half.
– Merideth Marsh drew a huge foul, putting her at the charity stripe. She hit both shots, bringing Vanderbilt within four. All 11 of Merideth’s points were in the second half.
– Jence Rhoads had a fastbreak layup at the 4:27 mark of the second half, bringing Vanderbilt within two. With this basket, Jence tied her career high of 18 points.
– With a fastbreak layup at the 3:05 mark of the second half, Jence Rhoads hit a new career high of 20 points. The bucket came off a steal by Elan Brown.
– Jessica Mooney quickly followed suit, stealing the ball and making a fastbreak layup of her own at the 2:37 mark of the second half, bringing Vanderbilt within two.
– Jessica Mooney drew the foul on a reverse layup, making the free throw for the three-point play.
– Lauren Lueders grabbed a much-needed defensive board and put the ball up for a quick layup with 46 seconds left to play in the game.