Dec. 20, 2010
Vanderbilt Game Notes 
| Teddy Bear Toss
Webcast, Live Stats & Twitter
Western Kentucky (4-6, 1-0 Sun Belt) at Vanderbilt (7-3, 0-0 SEC)
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010
Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Venue: Memorial Gymnasium (14,168)
Radio: 560 AM
TV: None
Webcast: vucommodores.com
Series: Vanderbilt leads 19-12
Last Meeting: Dec. 6, 2009 in Nashville (Vanderbilt 79 – Western Kentucky 73 (OT))
Vanderbilt will look to enter its holiday break riding a four-game win streak when it takes to the court at 7 p.m. Tuesday to face Western Kentucky in its final non-conference game of the season at Memorial Gymnasium. The Commodores earned their first road win of the season on Sunday with an 80-59 win at Duquesne.
Vanderbilt is in the midst of a 20-day period in which it plays just two games due to final exams and Christmas. Tuesday will mark the seventh straight season the Commodores (7-3) have faced Western Kentucky (4-6). Vanderbilt has won five straight in the series, including the last four meetings at Memorial Gym with the last loss at home being a 90-86 setback in overtime on Dec. 31, 1998.
Western Kentucky is coached by Mary Taylor Cowles, who is in her 10th season in Bowling Green. The Hilltoppers lost their first five games of the season, but have rebounded to win four of their last five, including two straight. WKU faced a difficult schedule to start the year, playing at Louisiana Tech and Duke, while also hosting Northwestern and playing Michigan State in a tournament. The two teams share one common opponent — Bowling Green. Vanderbilt lost at Bowling Green, 79-68, on Dec. 1 and WKU lost at home to the Falcons, 72-68, on Dec. 9.
Fans are encouraged to bring a teddy bear to the game on Tuesday to participate in a Teddy Bear Toss to benefit Toys for Tots. The teddy bears must have their tag on them to show that they are new. The Teddy Bear Toss will be held at halftime with the person making it in the target or coming closest to it winning a Vanderbilt prize pack.
Tickets to the game cost $6 and are available to purchase online at vucommodores.com, over the phone by calling 615/322-GOLD or in person at the McGugin Center Box. Walk up tickets can be purchased at the Memorial Gym Box Office on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s game will air on 560 AM in Nashville with play-by-play announcer Charlie Mattos on the call. Fans may also watch the game online by subscribing to All-Access on VUCommodores.com.
Last Time Out
Before Sunday, Vanderbilt had played three games away from Memorial Gymnasium and had lost all three. The Commodores’ road blues ended on Sunday at the A.J. Palumbo Center where Vanderblt handed Duquesne an 80-59 loss.
Playing in front of a large Vanderbilt contingent that was on hand to watch three Commodores with roots in the Keystone State, the `Dores posted maybe their most impressive win of the season as they won their third straight game to improve to 7-3 overall, while dealing Duquesne just their second loss of the season (8-2) and snapping the Duke’s seven-game winning streak.
Vanderbilt held an eight-point lead at the half, 42-34, but Duquesne was able to trim VU’s lead to four, 42-38, with 19:06 to play. Vanderbilt would extend its lead back to eight before Duquesne would cut the lead to four again (59-55) with 9:40 to play.
Just as Duquesne was seemingly inching closer, Vanderbilt buried the Dukes with a 21-4 run to take its largest lead of the game, 80-59, with 33 seconds to play. Vanderbilt held Duquesne without a field goal the last 7:49 of the game.
Road Blues End
After starting the season 0-3 on the road for the first time since the 1998-99 season when Vanderbilt lost at Oklahoma State, Miss. State and Indiana, Vanderbilt earned a much-needed road win on Dec. 19 at Duquesne (80-59). Vanderbilt is averaging 81.3 points per game at home and just 69.8 points per game on the road.
Foggie, Holzer Return
Vanderbilt had two key players return to its lineup on Dec. 19 at Duquesne. After missing the previous three games Christina Foggie (concussion) and Stephanie Holzer (back) played a large role in Vanderbilt earning its first road win of the season at Duquesne. The two combined to score 23 points and collect 14 rebounds. Their return came after a 10-day break for final exams.
Foggie scored 17 points and set a career high with six rebounds. She also made 5-of-9 three-pointers in 30 minutes. Holzer scored six points and collected eight rebounds in 13 minutes.
About Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky is coming off a season in which it went 21-11 overall and advanced to the WNIT. The Hilltoppers were picked to win the Sun Belt East Division. Senior Arnika Brown and Amy McNear were both named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team. However, sophomore forward Janae Howard paces WKU in scoring this season with an 11.9 average. Brown is second on the team with an average of 10.9 points per game.
Vanderbilt is 19-12 all-time against WKU and has won five straight in the series. Head Coach Melanie Balcomb is 5-1 all-time against the Hilltoppers with the only loss coming in her first meeting with WKU (85-77).
The Commodores are 11-3 against Western Kentucky at Memorial Gym and just 5-9 in Bowling Green. Vanderbilt’s current five-game winning streak against WKU is the longest VU has had in the series.
Against the Sun Belt
Vanderbilt is 32-22 all-time against teams that are currently in the Sun Belt. Vanderbilt is 20-7 at home against teams from the Sun Belt, but are 8-14 on the road and 4-1 at neutral sites. Vanderbilt is 0-1 against the Sun Belt this season , having lost 70-65 at Denver on Dec. 5.
Home Sweet Home
Vanderbilt is looking to start 7-0 at home this season for the first time since the 2008 season when Vanderbilt started 7-0 at Memorial Gym before losing to Notre Dame. If Vanderbilt defeats WKU, it will finish its non-conference home slate undefeated for the first time since going 9-0 during the 2006-07 season.
Turnover Woes No More
After ranking 11th in the SEC in turnover margin and last in average turnovers entering the Southern Illinois game on Dec. 7, the Commodores have found ball security in their last three games. Before the SIU game, Vanderbilt was averaging 18.7 turnovers a game, but in the last three contests VU is averaging 11 miscues.
Against SIU, Vanderbilt committed a season-low eight turnovers, which was its fewest turnovers since having seven against Maryland on March 28, 2009 in the NCAA Sweet 16.