Jan. 7, 2011
Vanderbilt Game Notes 
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Vanderbilt will continue its homestand on Sunday when the Commodores welcome Auburn to Memorial Gym for a 2 p.m. CT tip. The Commodores have won 16 straight meetings with Auburn with the last loss coming Jan. 16, 2000 in Nashville.
Vanderbilt is coming off a 65-44 win over Mississippi State on Thursday. The win was Vanderbilt’s eighth in a row in SEC home openers and moved the Commodores to 8-0 at home this season.
The Commodores (10-5, 1-1 SEC) will face an Auburn team (9-6, 2-0 SEC) that is playing its best basketball of the season. The Tigers have won five straight games after starting the year 4-6 and are tied for the SEC lead at 2-0 record. Auburn has wins at Alabama (66-55) and against Florida (73-56) to open the season.
After fumbling away leads of 17 and 18 points at Virginia Tech and at Ole Miss, respectively, the Commodores ensured that their 17-point first half lead against Mississippi State would stick. Vanderbilt never looked back from a 15-point lead at the half and would stretch it to as many as 25 points despite shooting a season low 34.5 percent from the floor.
Tickets to Sunday’s game are $10 and may be purchased on vucommodores.com, over the phone by calling 615/322-GOLD or in person the day of the game at the Memorial Gym box office.
Following Vanderbilt’s game against the Tigers, all fans in attendance are invited to attend a mini basketball clinic and autograph session after the game. The clinic and autograph session will be held on the court shortly after the conclusion of the game.
Sundays Vanderbilt game will air on 560 AM in Nashville with play-by-play announcer Charlie Mattos on the call. Fans may watch and listen to the games online by subscribing to All-Access on VUCommodores.com.
Last Time Out
Vanderbilt had been here before. A dominating first half. A large halftime lead. But, unlike the past two games where the Commodores had double digit leads slip away from them, Vanderbilt was not about to let its second half blues continue on Thursday against Mississippi State.
Instead, after opening up a 17-point first half lead the Commodores slammed the door shut on Mississippi State and would not let the Bulldogs crack it open again en route to a 65-44 win in the SEC home opener for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt (10-5, 1-1 SEC) entered Thursday’s game after losing leads of 17 and 18 points at Virginia Tech and Ole Miss, respectively, so a large first-half lead seemed far from safe for the Commodores, especially against a Mississippi State (8-5, 0-1 SEC) team that had beaten Vanderbilt three straight times.
However, Vanderbilt ensured its lead would stick this time by extending its cushion to as many as 25 points in the second half despite shooting a season low 34.5 percent from the floor. The win moved Vanderbilt to 8-0 at home and was the Commodores’ eighth straight win in an SEC home opener.
Vanderbilt fell behind the Bulldogs 4-3 before opening up the game with a 16-0 run to take a 19-4 lead with 10:30 to play. Mississippi State never recovered thanks in part to a suffocating defensive performance that limited the Bulldogs to just 27.6 percent shooting.
About Auburn
Auburn opened its SEC slate with a win at Alabama before knocking off Florida at home on Thursday. The Tigers are coached by seventh-year Head Coach Nell Fortner, who won the SEC title in 2009. Auburn finished 15-16 overall and 5-11 in the SEC last season.
Auburn’s program has a history of success with 18 NCAA appearances, including three final fours.
The Tigers and Commodores share one common opponent: Florida State. Both teams played the Seminoles in November and Florida State won each meeting. FSU won at Auburn 67-61, while FSU knocked off Vanderbilt 72-66 in Tallahassee.
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 23-16 and hold a 10-5 advantage at home. Head Coach Melanie Balcomb is 13-0 all-time against the Tigers.
Remembering 2009
The last meeting between the Tigers and Commodores in Nashville was one of the most memorable in series history. The two teams faced off in a battle for first place in the SEC on Feb. 19, 2009 with Vanderbilt holding on to a 73-70 win to push the Commodores into first place. Unfortunately, Vanderbilt lost its two remaining games as Auburn went on to claim the regular season title. Auburn entered the game ranked No. 3, while Vanderbilt was ranked 18th.
The two teams would meet again that season in the SEC Tournament Championship, which Vanderbilt won 61-54.
Series of Close Games
Although Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb has won all 13 meetings in the series, the wins have not come with ease. Only two of the 13 wins have come by double digits (80-45 in 2007 & 73-56 in 2008).
Double-Double Holzer
Redshirt freshman Stephanie Holzer posted the third double-double of her career against Mississippi State, collecting a career-best 13 rebounds to go along with 14 points.
Commodores Go Cold
Vanderbilt leads the SEC in free-throw percentage, and rank second in field-goal percentage and three-point percentage. However as of late, the Commodores have been misfiring at their highest rate to date. The team’s four lowest shooting percentages have come in their last five games. Vanderbilt’s worst shooting game came against Mississippi State when VU shot 34.5 percent from the field.
Multiple Starting Lineups
Vanderbilt has used eight different starting lineups this season. The team used six starting lineups in the team’s first eight games this season before using the same lineup for six straight games leading up to the Ole Miss game. VU used its eighth different lineup against Mississippi State.
Home Sweet Home
Vanderbilt is 8-0 at home this season for the first time since the 2006-07 season when Vanderbilt started 11-0 at home. The Commodores finished their non-conference slate undefeated (7-0) for the first time since going 9-0 during the 2006-07 season.
Virginia Tech & Ole Miss = Tale of Two Halves
Two games in a row Vanderbilt blew double-digit leads in the first half. Vanderbilt blew a 17-point lead at Virginia Tech and an 18-point lead at Ole Miss. In both losses, the opposing team has shot better than 54 percent from the floor in the second half.
Tuomi Among NCAA Leaders
Senior Hannah Tuomi has been extremely accurate from the floor this season. Tuomi ranks third in the NCAA with a 62.8 field-goal percentage. Tuomi has made 76-of-121 attempts.
Foggie Misses Mississippi State game
Christina Foggie missed the Mississippi State game due to post concussion syndrome and is out until at least next Thursday. Foggie has had reoccurring headaches since suffering a concussion on Dec. 1.