March 16, 2010
NCAA Ticket Information | Visit Tournament Central
The Vanderbilt Commodores may have made postseason play a habit over the past decade, but that does nothing to diminish their enthusiasm over being part of college basketball’s grandest event.
They officially made it a record-breaking 11 straight bids to the NCAA Tournament Monday night, earning the No. 6 seed in the Sacramento region and drawing 11th-seeded DePaul in Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon.
Whether they were freshmen about to experience the Big Dance for the first time or veteran seniors making their fourth trip in a row, the excitement among the Commodores (22-10) was palpable in the Admiral’s Room at Memorial Gymnasium when the seeding was announced.
For the moment, discussion of the match-up with the Blue Demons (21-10) fell by the wayside in lieu of celebration of yet another tournament berth.
“Definitely a new experience. We haven’t really talked about it yet,” said freshman forward Tiffany Clarke. “We’re more excited about what seed we are, where we’re going to be.”
It will be a lot closer to home than their last two tournaments, when the Commodores played their opening round games in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In fact, it will be a homecoming for not only Cincinnati natives Ashlee Bridge and Gabby Smith, but also Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb, who headed Xavier (the No. 3 seed in the Sacramento region and a possible second-round matchup) from 1995 to 2002 before joining the Commodores.
“We’ve been sent out west so much, it’s nice that people can get in a car and get up there, and I think we’ll have a lot of support,” Balcomb said.
Junior point guard Jence Rhoads was a major reason for getting Vanderbilt that opportunity, earning first-team All-SEC honors. She averaged 13.5 points and 5 assists per game and led the Commodores in scoring seven times during league play.
She has played for two teams that were seeded better in the past, but she was grateful for Vanderbilt’s draw nonetheless.
“I was pretty happy with it,” Rhoads said. “You always want to get a higher seed, but I think it was pretty fair with how our season ended up. You can’t take anyone lightly, because everyone comes ready to play in the tournament.”
Just getting there is not enough, however, for the Commodores, who have reached the Sweet 16 two years in a row and came achingly close to reaching the Elite 8 a year ago in one of the most dramatic games of the tournament.
That 78-74 loss to top-seeded Maryland, where Vanderbilt lost an 18-point first-half advantage, hangs heavy.
“We’re never going to forget that last game,” Rhoads said. She smiled before adding, “Unfortunately.
“There’s a lot to be learned from it. We have to share our experience from previous tournaments with the younger kids, the freshmen, so they’ll be ready to play.”
Vanderbilt led nearly 39 minutes of the contest but succumbed to a career day by Maryland’s Marissa Coleman, who scored 42 points. It was the second straight year that the Terrapins had ended the season for the Commodores.
Clarke had already committed to play for Vanderbilt by tournament time last season and watched the devastating loss.
“That Maryland game is not happening again,” Clarke said. “We’re going to fight hard.”
First things first. Any designs on shaking off those memories will have to start with a victory over DePaul.
“I don’t want to look past anybody,” Balcomb said. “I don’t want to even talk about anybody but the opponent we’re going to face.”