NASHVILLE — The entire preseason, Vanderbilt women’s basketball Head Coach Melanie Balcomb has been of the belief her team needed to learn to rely on defense to win games, not just offense.
On Monday night in Nashville, the No. 13/17 Commodores got some first hand experience as they overcame a poor shooting night to defeat Lipscomb, 62-45, and improve to 2-0. The Lady Bisons fell to 0-2.
The game started out eerily similar to last year’s contest with Lipscomb, with a large Vanderblit run. Last season, it was a 17-0 run over the first eight minutes, this season it was a 13-0 run over the first 10 minutes.
Vanderbilt’s largest lead was 20 with 5:58 remaining in the opening frame and it was a 14-point Commodore lead at the half. The second half saw Vanderbilt shoot just 8-20 from the field (30.8%) as the Lady Bisons hung around, before Vanderbilt was able to pull away in the closing minutes and win, 62-45.
If any player was an exception to the shooting woes, it was Jasmine Lister. The junior guard shot 8-14, including 6-10 from three, to score a game high 24 points. She added five assists and four rebounds in the contest.
Christina Foggie contributed 13 points, while Tiffany Clarke added eight and seven rebounds.
Hannah Phillips led the Lady Bisons with 21 points. Lipscomb struggled to find offense beyond the guard, as no other player for the home team scored more than six points.
Lipscomb closed within six points on three occasions in the second half, but could not draw any closer.
The first came with 9:58 remaining before a Lister jumper pushed it back to 34-42. Phillps answered to cut the lead back to six with 8:05 left, before Heather Bowe connected on a pair of free throws to push the lead back to eight. Phillps made a pair from the line to make it 44-38, but Foggie responded with a 3-pointer to push the lead to nine.
Lister added a pair of threes in the final 1:09 to help push the final margin to 62-45.
The Commodores return to the floor on Thursday, November 15, when they host UAB. Tipoff at Memorial Gym is set for 7:00 p.m. For tickets, call 615-322-GOLD or click here.
