Jan. 14, 2012
Vandy Game Notes (at Tennessee) 
The No. 25/24 Vanderbilt women’s basketball team (14-2, 2-1 SEC) makes its annual trip to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on No. 7/6 Tennessee (12-4, 3-1 SEC). Tipoff at Thompson-Boling Arena is set for 1:00 p.m. CT and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.
Scouting The Commodores
No. 25/24 Vanderbilt takes a 14-2 record to Knoxville for the first of two annual showdowns with Tennessee. The Commodores are coming off a 66-58 win over Auburn that saw sophomore point guard Christina Foggie score 27 points for the second time in her career. Foggie is the Commodores’ leading scorer, posting 17.3 points per contest. Classmate and fellow guard Jasmine Lister is right behind her, posting 12.6 points per game while adding 5.6 assists per contest. Junior forward Tiffany Clarke has come on strong during SEC play for the second season in a row. She’s averaging 14.7 points and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds per contest during the three league contests and made her first start of the season against Auburn. Also in double-figures for Vanderbilt is redshirt sophomore center Stephanie Holzer. The reigning SEC Sixth Woman of the Year is posting 10.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Scouting The Lady Volunteers
No. 6/7 Tennessee comes in looking to rebound from a 61-60 loss at No. 9/8 Kentucky on Thursday night. The Lady Vols are led by the duo of Shekinna Stricklen and Glory Johnson, who are averaging 15.3 and 14.4 points per game, respectively. Johnson is the reigning SEC Player of the Week after becoming just the fourth player in Tennessee history to reach 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Johnson leads the team in rebounding at 9.7 per contest. Other major contributors for the Lady Vols are Taber Spani, who missed the UK game but is averaging 11.9 ppg, Meighan Simmons, who is posting 10.4 ppg, Vicki Baugh, who scored 16 against the Wildcats, and Ariel Massengale, who is posting a team-high 4.0 assists per game.Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee – The SeriesSunday’s game will be the 65th meeting between Tennessee and Vanderbilt, with UT holding a 57-7 edge in the series. Tennessee is the most common opponent in program history for Vanderbilt. The first meeting came in the 1979-80 season, a 77-53 UT win in Nashville. The first Vanderbilt win came in 1984-85, an 84-77 win at Memorial Gym. The teams have met at least twice during each season since 1993-94. The most recent Vanderbilt win came in 2008-09, when the Dores won 74-58 at Memorial. Lone senior Jordan Coleman is the only Vanderbilt player who was on the team for that victory and she did not see action in the game. Tennessee won both meetings last year (68-56 in Knoxville; 65-57 in Nashville). The second meeting in Nashville saw Vanderbilt hold UT to 15 points in the first half before UT rallied for a 65-57 victory. The top Commodore returner from that game is Stephanie Holzer, who scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Shekinna Stricklen led UT with 14 points and nine rebounds. Vanderbilt has not won in 26 tries in Knoxville.
On-Deck
Vanderbilt will stay on the road, traveling to Fayetteville, Ark., to face Arkansas on Thursday, January 19. Tipoff with the Razorbacks is set for 7:00 p.m. Central.
With freshman guard Kady Schrann heading to Knoxville to face Tennessee in Thompson-Boling for the first time in her career, VUCommodores.com talked to a few of her more experienced teammates to find out what advice they have for the rookie.