March 1, 2011
SEC Tickets | SEC Bracket | All-SEC Awards
With the calendar flipping to March, it can mean only one thing — March Madness is almost upon us. In the next two weeks, every college basketball team in the country will begin postseason play. For Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball team, the postseason begins this week with the SEC Tournament getting underway Thursday, March 3 at Bridgestone Arena.
The Commodores have a first round bye as the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will not play until 9 p.m. CT on Friday against the winner of the Auburn-Mississippi State matchup on Thursday.
Tickets are available for the entire SEC Tournament and individual sessions. All-session books are available for $90 (reserved) or $60 (general admission). Individual sessions include two games until Sunday’s final, and are available for $12 and $17. Click here to purchase tickets.
Bracketology
See where the prognosticators have Vanderbilt landing in the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN: 10th Seed in Durham, N.C. (Philadelphia Region)
College RPI: 8th Seed in Waco, Texas (Dallas Regional)
Web Articles
SEC women’s teams wary of seeding – Greg Sullivan (Tennessean)
Vanderbilt Women Plan Travel Downtown for ‘tournament experience’ – David Boclair (City Paper)
SEC Awards
Tuesday, the SEC announced that senior Jence Rhoads was named first team All-SEC and Stephanie Holzer and Jasmine Lister were named to the Freshman All-SEC Team. Holzer was also named the Sixth Woman of the Year. View the release here
SEC Teleconference
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb participated in the SEC Teleconference on Monday. See transcript below.
Opening Statement:
“I’m happy with where we are going as far as our momentum going into the tournament. I think that is something that has always been really important to our teams and why we’ve done so well in the postseason is that we’ve had momentum going in.
We’ve had some very difficult injuries on and off all season – more than I’ve ever dealt with a young team. I think a win on the road against South Carolina, with our backs against the wall, really showed a lot of heard and character and I’m just excited to go in with momentum.”
On how much the team’s NCAA Tournament seeding can be influenced by team’s performance at SEC Tournament:
“I think it will make a big difference because we started off slow this year with our injuries and now we have a full group. Right now Jence (Rhoads) is the only one that is about half speed. We’ve got everyone else back and we are at full strength. I think if we can do well in the SEC Tournament, it will certainly boost our seed for the NCAAs.”
On the challenge of facing teams in the postseason:
“I think it is a new season for everybody. It doesn’t matter who we play, it is a new opportunity for every team and what we have to be careful of is not being satisfied, and having a sense of urgency in that very first game, and focusing on the game that day as being the biggest game that we play in our season.”
On if the conference’s 16-game schedule is the way it should be:
“I probably have a different perspective than most teams because we play Tennessee twice every season. I look at it differently because at Vanderbilt we are at a disadvantage of playing the best team in the conference year in and year out twice a season, and nobody else does that.
No one has ever won the regular season that has had to play Tennessee twice. I don’t think there is an easy answer, but I would like to see a conference where you play the same teams and you rotate them equally. I just think the schedule should be fair and equal. Nobody wants to draw Tennessee twice so I probably have a different perspective than anyone else in the conference.”
On the team’s success playing the SEC Tournament in Nashville:
“I think being in your hometown creates a lot of comfort. I think having your fans there is a great comfort. Obviously we have a great fan base that is very loyal to us, so getting as many people we can into the arena in Nashville really helps us. Certainly it is not our home court and we don’t practice or play on that court.
It is a momentum thing as well. We have that momentum going into the tournament that we’ve had in the years past to be able to be able to do well in the tournament. I like where we are at winning the game we did at South Carolina with our backs against the wall and gaining some momentum to go into this tournament.”
On the tournament being rotated between Nashville and Duluth:
“Geography-wise I think they are good locations. I think it helps everyone get their fans there.
I prefer Nashville, not because we are here, as much as how the coaches talk about how it creates such a tournament environment. Everyone can walk to and from the hotels to restaurants, to the game and not worry about parking.
I think they do a great job in Duluth, but the only problem is that it is in a spread out area where the hotels are further away and there isn’t the environment for the fans that we have here in Nashville.”