Jan. 21, 2015
Teams: Arkansas (11-6, 1-4) at Vanderbilt (10-8, 1-4)
Day, Date: Thursday, Jan. 22
Tip-off time: 7 p.m. (CT)
Site: Memorial Gym (Nashville, Tenn.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
Viewing: SEC Network-Plus (online)
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased by calling 615-322-GOLD, visiting the McGugin Center ticket office or logging on to vucommodores.com.
After completing a rugged five-game slate to open SEC play, the Vanderbilt women (10-8, 1-4) are in need of a surge — and now is the time to do it. Thursday night’s home game against Arkansas marks the beginning of a two-week stretch in which the Commodores have a golden opportunity to make a move in the conference standings. Three of Vanderbilt’s next four opponents — Arkansas, Alabama and Florida — have a combined SEC record of 2-14. Vanderbilt’s other opponent during the four-game span is Mississippi State — a team that the Commodores defeated 78-62 on Jan. 11. Also encouraging for Vanderbilt is the fact that the Commodores will play four of their next six games on their home floor, where they’ve posted a 7-2 mark this season. Here are a few storylines surrounding Thursday’s game:
l THE LEAGUE LEADER: Vanderbilt’s defense will have a difficult assignment on Thursday night when the SEC’s leading scorer — Arkansas’ Kelcey Brooks — comes to town. The 5-9 sophomore guard is averaging 16.2 points per game and has reached double figures in 15 of 17 games this season. Brooks, who has won SEC Player of the Week honors twice this season, has led the Razorbacks in scoring in 10 games and has scored 20 or more points in four games.
l STARTING TO LOOK FAMILIAR: Vanderbilt’s starting lineup is beginning to become less fluid. The combination of Rebekah Dahlman, Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau, Jasmine Jenkins, Heather Bowe and Morgan Batey has formed the starting five in each of the past four games, which ties the longest stretch of the season in which the same group has been used. (The combination of Batey, Caron-Goudreau, Dahlman, Paris Kea and Marqu’es Webb started four straight games in late November). Prior to recent stabilization, the Commodores’ starting lineup was in constant flux, as injuries and inconsistent play caused head coach Melanie Balcomb to use eight different combinations through the first 14 games. The first change to the lineup came in just the second game of the season, and it changed again in the fourth game. From there, new combinations were used in Game 8, Game 9, Game 11, Game 13 and Game 14. All told, 10 of the 13 players on the Vanderbilt roster have seen their names in the starting lineup this season, with Morgan Batey being the lone Commodore to start all 18 games.
l HEY, WHERE’S YOUR NUMBER? When the Commodores face the unranked Razorbacks on Thursday, it will be a rare opportunity for Vanderbilt to match up against a team that can not be found in the Associated Press and USA Today polls. Four of Vanderbilt’s first five SEC opponents were ranked when they played Commodores, and all four teams remain in the Top-25 this week, including No. 5/7 Tennessee, No. 10/10 Texas A&M, No. 18/20 Mississippi State and No. 22/19 Georgia. … The Razorbacks are no strangers to ranked opponents, either. Three of their past four games have come against ranked teams: Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Tennessee. … Arkansas and Vanderbilt were the only two schools in the country to begin conference play with three of their first four games coming against top-15 ranked opponents. … The Commodores have 10 games remaining in the regular season, including four matchups against teams that are currently ranked (Mississippi State, Kentucky, top-ranked South Carolina and Tennessee).
l NEW PERSPECTIVE: When he visits Memorial Gym on Thursday, first-year Arkansas head coach Jimmy Dykes will have a new perspective: He’ll be moving from the sideline to the baseline. Dykes has visited Memorial Gym many times in the past as a color analyst during his career with ESPN, sitting at the scorers table to call the action. But this time, he’ll be stationed on the baseline with his team while making his first trip to Memorial as a head coach. Dykes, a former player at Arkansas, served as an assistant coach from 1984 through 1991, making six stops in that time. He began as an assistant at Arkansas, followed by stints at Sacramento State, Appalachian State, Kentucky, Arkansas-Little Rock and Oklahoma State. He then spent two seasons as an NBA scout before working as a broadcaster from 1995-2014.
l SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKS: Although the Arkansas roster features the SEC’s leading scorer — Kelcey Brooks (16.2 ppg) — the Razorbacks as a whole don’t have flashy numbers. They rank seventh in the SEC in two prominent categories: scoring (65.4 points per game) and defense (allowing 55.6 points per game). They rank sixth in blocked shots (4.1 bpg) and are last in the conference in steals (6.3 spg). But here’s the catch: the athletic Arkansas squad features a big collection of relentless rebounders. The Hogs are averaging an SEC-leading 44 rebounds per game, and they rank second in the conference in the rebounding margin (+10.4). Melissa Wolf is averaging a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game, and four of her teammates are averaging 5.5 rebounds or more: Jhasmin Bowen (6.9), Jessica Jackson (5.9), Brooks (5.8) and Calli Berna (5.5). … Arkansas ranks seventh in the SEC in 3-point percentage (31.3).
l SIZING UP THE SERIES: Thursday’s game marks the 29th all-time match-up between the Commodores and Razorbacks, with Vanderbilt owning a commanding 22-6 lead in the series, including an 11-1 mark at Memorial Gym. … Arkansas’ only win in Nashville came during the 2001-02 season. …. Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb owns a 14-2 record against the Razorbacks, highlighted by a 7-0 mark against them in Memorial Gym. … The Commodores won the most recent matchup between the teams, posting a 56-50 win last season in Fayetteville (More on that game below). … The series, which dates back to the 1991-92 season, has featured four overtime games, with VU winning three of the four. … Vanderbilt has won 10 of the past 11 matchups, and has gone 15-2 against Arkansas since March of 2002. … Vanderbilt has won eight straight against the Hogs in Nashville. … Vanderbilt is 8-5 against Arkansas in Fayetteville, and 3-0 against the Razorbacks at neutral sites.
l SUMMARIZING THE SEASON: The Razorbacks opened SEC play with four straight losses — with three defeats coming against Top-15 ranked opponents — before breaking into the win column with a 73-55 win over Missouri on Sunday. It was the first career SEC coaching win for first-year head coach Jimmy Dykes. … Prior to conference play, the Razorbacks had compiled a 10-2 record that included a 77-67 win over then-No. 17/16 Iowa on Nov. 28 in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout and an impressive road win over MTSU. … The hot start included a six-game, season-opening win streak before the Hogs suffered their first loss of the season on Dec. 4, falling to South Dakota State at home in overtime. … Along with the win at MTSU, Arkansas has also posted road wins at Missouri State and Tulsa, along with a nuetral-site win over Richmond.
l LAST SEASON: In last season’s matchup, the Commodores outlasted Arkansas 56-50 in an SEC thriller in Fayetteville. Vanderbilt was clinging to a two-point lead in the final 30 seconds before Christina Foggie hit 2-of-2 free throws with 2.9 seconds left to stretch the lead to four. Vanderbilt then stole the inbounds pass and made a layup to secure the win. Morgan Batey scored a career-high 18 points, finishing 8-of-14 from the floor, before fouling out with 1:12 to go. Christina Foggie added 11 for Vanderbilt, which shot 46.9 percent from the floor. Jessica Jackson led Arkansas with 18. The Commodores trailed 26-25 at the half, but opened the second half with a 13-2 run — capped by Lister’s 3-pointer — for a 38-28 lead with 14:26 to play. Arkansas battled back to make it tight down the stretch, but the Commodores never gave up the lead. The Commodores shot 52 percent in the first half and 46 percent for the game, which helped them overcome a rough night at the foul line, where they made just 8-of-18 attempts.
l MOST RECENT GAME: VU FALLS IN ATHENS: After two hot-shooting performances, the Commodores were cooled down by one of the nation’s best defensive teams last Sunday in Athens. Limited to 40 percent shooting from the field, Vanderbilt was saddled with a 64-53 road loss to No. 16/18 Georgia. The Bulldogs — who entered the day ranked fourth in country in points allowed per game (50.6) — improved to 11-0 at home this season, and stretched their overall winning streak at Stegeman Coliseum to 17 games. … Rebekah Dalman led Vanderbilt (10-8, 1-4) with 17 points and Marqu’es Webb had 11. Dahlman finished 6-of-8 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. … The Commodores entered the day hoping to extend a two-game surge during which they had shot better than 60 percent from the floor while posting wins over Mississippi State and Alabama-Huntsville. But Georgia played its typical brand of intense defense, forcing 23 turnovers. … Vanderbilt stayed within striking distance for much of the afternoon, and trailed 39-36 with 11:14 remaining in the second half. But Vanderbilt ultimately couldn’t overcome the foul problems that caused Dahlman and Webb to sit out for lengthy stretches in the second half. The Bulldogs also made the most of their chances at the free throw line, finishing 24-of-30 (80 percent). Vanderbilt was 10-of-16 (62 percent) at the line. Those numbers proved to be a pivotal element during a game in which both teams finished 19-of-47 from the floor.
l INJURY REPORT: The Commodores continue to be operating at less than full strength, with three players — Christa Reed, Khaléann Caron-Goudreau and Kendall Shaw — each being sidelined with injuries for VU’s game last Sunday against Georgia. Only twice in the first 18 games has head coach Melanie Balcomb had the luxury of having all 13 of her players available for action (the two games were against Tennessee and LSU). Overall, a total of seven Vanderbilt players — more than half the roster — have missed time this season due to injuries, illness or other reasons. Khaléann Caron-Goudreau has missed the most time, sitting out the first 12 games of the season while recovering from an ankle injury and then missing the past three games. Others who have missed multiple games include junior Heather Bowe (who was unavailable for the first eight games while serving a suspension for violation of academic policy), sophomore Marqu’es Webb (who missed four games in December with a knee injury) and Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (who missed three games in December after sustaining a concussion in practice). Bell and Shaw have both been sidelined the past two games. Freshman Rachel Bell and redshirt sophomore Kristen Gaffney have missed one game each with illness.