Jan. 7, 2015
Teams: Vanderbilt (8-6, 0-2) at LSU (9-7, 1-1)
Day, Date: Thursday, Jan. 8
Tip-off time: 8 p.m. (CT)
Site: Maravich Assembly Center (Baton Rouge, La.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
TV: SEC Network
For the first time since opening SEC play, the Vanderbilt women won’t be facing a team that has a number attached to its name on Thursday night. Still, that doesn’t mean the Commodores (8-6, 0-2) will have an easy task when they take the floor against unranked LSU (9-7, 1-1). In fact, the Commodores — who opened conference play with consecutive losses to Top 10-ranked foes (Texas A&M and Tennessee) — are likely to have their hands full against an LSU team that has been playing impressively over the past month. After enduring a tough start to the season, the Tigers ripped off five wins in seven games from Dec. 3 through Jan. 2. The surge included a road victory over Florida in their SEC opener last Friday. The Tigers then dropped a 75-51 decision to No. 1-ranked South Carolina on Sunday afternoon to fall to 1-1 in the conference. Here are a few storylines surrounding Thursday’s contest:
l UNUSUAL POSITION: The Commodores certainly aren’t accustomed to opening SEC play with two consecutive losses. It hasn’t happened since the 2002-03 season, which was Melanie Balcomb’s first year in Nashville. That season, just like this season, Vanderbilt faced two ranked opponents to begin conference play, falling to Mississippi State on the road and then losing at home to South Carolina. (MSU was ranked No. 15/14 and South Carolina was No. 14/13). The Commodores, however, recovered in a big way, winning nine of their final 12 conference games. Vanderbilt then made a postseason push, advancing to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
l UNHAPPY MEMORIES IN BATON ROUGE: Vanderbilt has lost five straight games in Baton Rouge, and has traditionally had difficulty scoring against the Tigers on their home floor. The Commodores have been held to 59 points or less in five of their seven trips to Baton Rouge during the Melanie Balcomb era, including scoring just 39 points — the lowest total in Balcomb’s tenure at VU — in a loss at LSU on Feb. 18, 2010. Dating back to the 1997-98 season, Vanderbilt has averaged just 54 points per game in its past 10 trips to Baton Rouge. VU is 2-8 in those 10 games.
l FINALLY AT FULL STRENGTH: After enduring a series of injuries in December, the Commodores are on the mend. All 13 players on the Vanderbilt roster were available for Monday’s game against Tennessee, which marked the first time all season that head coach Melanie Balcomb has had her full allotment of players. During the first two months of the season, six different Commodores had been sidelined at various times with injuries, illnesses and other reasons. Freshman Khaléann Caron-Goudreau had missed the most time, sitting out the first 12 games of the season while recovering from an ankle injury. Also, junior Heather Bowe was unavailable for the first eight games while serving a suspension for violation of academic policy. Others who have missed time include: Sophomore Marqu’es Webb (who missed four games in December with a knee injury); Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (who missed three games in December after sustaining a concussion in practice); freshman Rachel Bell (who missed the SEC opener with flu-like symptoms) and Kristen Gaffney (who missed a game in late November with illness).
l CHANGING IT UP: The Commodores tried a new combination in the starting lineup for Monday’s game against Tennessee, which represented the eighth different lineup used by head coach Melanie Balcomb through the first 14 games of the season. Junior Morgan Batey, who seen action at all five positions this season, is the only Vanderbilt player to start every game. The first change to the lineup came in just the second game of the season, and it changed again in the fourth game. Since then, new combinations have been used in Game 8, Game 9, Game 11, Game 13 and Game 14.
l SCOUTING THE TIGERS: LSU is ranked No. 160 in the RPI, the second lowest among SEC teams. .. The Tigers come into the game ranked last in the SEC in scoring, averaging just 63.4 points per game, and are ranked 10th in defense, allowing 58.9 points per game. … The Tigers lead the conference in 3-point percentage (37 percent) but have the fewest attempts from 3-point among all the SEC teams (making 51 of 137 shots from beyond the arc). … LSU has two players averaging double figures in scoring: DaShawn Harden, a 5-9 senior guard, leads the Tigers at 12.0 points per game, and Raigyne Moncrief, a 5-10 sophomore guard, is scoring 10.3 ppg. … Moncrief is also the team’s top rebounder at 7.4 boards per game. … The Tigers essentially have only three players who are a threat to shoot from 3-point range: Harden, Jenna Deemer, and Anne Pedersen. The trio has combined to shoot 131 of LSU’s 137 attempts from 3-point range this season.
l HOW LSU HAS FARED: The Tigers opened SEC play with an impressive road win against Florida, then came home and fell to No. 1-ranked South Carolina. … Prior to Sunday’s loss to the Gamecocks, the Tigers had produced a month-long stretch of solid basketball, going 5-2 in that span. The surge included back-to-back home wins over Louisiana Tech and SE Louisiana, a road victory over UC Santa Barbara and a win over UNC Greensboro in the first round of the Miami Holiday Tournament. The Tigers then suffered a loss to Miami in the Holiday Tournament to close out their non-conference schedule.
l SIZING UP THE SERIES: Thursday’s game marks the 43rd all-time match-up between the Commodores and the Tigers. … Vanderbilt owns a 24-18 lead in the series, which dates back to to the 195-86 season. … LSU has beaten VU in each of the past five meetings in Baton Rouge. … The teams most recent match-up was last season in Nashville, when the Commodores posted a 79-70 victory. (More on that game below). … The Commodores haven’t had much success in Baton Rouge through the years, posting a 4-12 all-time record on the Tigers’ home floor, including losing eight of the past 10 games. But Vanderbilt is 13-3 against LSU in Memorial Gym, and 7-3 against LSU at neutral sites … Head coach Melanie Balcomb has gone 11-8 against the Tigers since her arrival in 2002. She is 1-6 against LSU in Baton Rouge, with the lone victory coming in the 2003-04 season.
l LOOKING BACK: In last season’s matchup, Vanderbilt posted a 79-70 victory over LSU in a battle of ranked teams on Jan. 19 in Nashville. … The Commodores built a 20-point lead in the second half and then fought off an LSU comeback bid down the stretch. … LSU came into the game ranked No. 14 in both the AP and USA Today poll. VU was ranked No. 24/25. … Former Vanderbilt star Jasmine Lister scored a game-high 25 points and Christina Foggie added 19 for Vanderbilt. … Danielle Ballard finished with 23 points for LSU (14-4, 3-2) and Theresa Plaisance added 16. … Morgan Batey added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists for Vanderbilt. … Vanderbilt shot 52 percent from the floor, including 59 percent in the second half, and finished 7-of-11 from 3-point range (63.6). Vanderbilt also made 24-of-30 attempts (80 percent) from the foul line.
l MOST RECENT GAME: COMMODORES FALL SHORT: In its most recent game, Vanderbilt endured a cold shooting performance and fell to No. 7/9 Tennessee, 57-49, at Memorial Gym. Although the Commodores made a season-high seven 3-pointers, they were just 9-of-31 (29 percent) from inside the arc. And their 10-of-16 performance (62 percent) from the foul line didn’t help either. … Andraya Carter scored a game-high 19 points to help Tennessee (12-2, 2-0) win its eighth straight game. Ariel Massengale added 12 points despite going just 2-of-9 from the floor. … For Vanderbilt, freshman Christa Reed scored a team-high 13 points and fellow freshman Khalèann Caron-Goudreau had 10. … The Commodores were hoping to continue their recent home-floor success against Lady Vols after beating them at Memorial Gym in two of the past three seasons and three of the past six. But this time, the Tennessee defense made sure there would be no upset. The Lady Vols limited Vanderbilt to just 17 points in the first half, and held the Commodores to 33 percent shooting for the game. … UT’s Jordan Reynolds scored 11 points and Cierra Burdick scored 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Their strong performances — coupled with the good work by Carter and Massengale — helped Tennessee overcome a quiet night from star players Isabelle Harrison (the former Hillsboro standout was limited to three points) and Bashaara Graves (two points).