Jan. 28, 2015
Teams: Vanderbilt (12-8, 3-4) at No. 18/18 Mississippi State (21-2, 6-2)
Day, Date: Thursday, Jan. 29
Tip-off time: 7 p.m. (CT)
Site: Humphrey Coliseum (Starkville, Miss.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
Viewing: SEC Network Plus (online)
After posting a pair of close-call victories over two teams that sit near the bottom of the SEC standings, the Vanderbilt women (12-8, 3-4) are now ready to tangle with a team that has a much loftier position. On Thursday night, the Commodores — who’ve won four of their past five games — travel to Starkville to face the No. 18/18 Mississippi State Bulldogs, who have won three straight SEC games and currently own sole possession of third place in the conference. Vanderbilt defeated Mississippi State on Jan. 11 to saddle the Bulldogs with their first loss of the season after an 18-0 start. The Bulldogs own a 6-2 record at the midway mark of the SEC schedule, and have posted a 13-1 mark at home this season. Vanderbilt’s victory over MSU sparked the Commodores’ current 2½-week surge that featured three SEC wins along with a non-conference victory over Alabama-Huntsville. The Commodores will carry a two-game SEC winning streak into Thursday’s game after knocking off Arkansas, 55-53, last Thursday at Memorial Gym and then earning their first SEC road win by clipping Alabama, 55-52, on Sunday. Those two teams are both 1-6 in SEC play. Here are a few storylines surrounding Thursday’s game in Starkville:
l STONE COLD OPPONENTS: The Vanderbilt defense produced some unbelievable numbers during the wins over the Arkansas and Alabama. The Commodores did not surrender a field goal during a 22-minute stretch that crossed over the two games — beginning with the final 12:32 of the Arkansas game and continuing through the opening 10:07 of the Alabama game. Arkansas and Alabama combined to go 0-for-27 from the floor in that stretch, with Arkansas missing its final 18 shots of Thursday’s game and Alabama misfiring on its first nine shots of Sunday’s game. The Commodores outscored the two opponents 35-8 during the 22-minute stretch — closing the Arkansas game with a 20-7 run and then jumping out to a 15-1 lead in the first 9:53 of the Alabama game.
l STAYING CLOSE: It wouldn’t be accurate to say that the Commodores have abandoned the 3-point shot, but they have certainly slowed down the pace in recent days. And with impressive results. Vanderbilt, which traditionally relies heavily on 3-point shooting, has averaged just 6.4 attempts from 3-point range in its past five games — and has posted a 4-1 record in that stretch. In the four wins, Vanderbilt has attempted a total of just 19 shots from behind the arc for an average of 4.7 per game. But the Commodores have made the most of their limited attempts from long range, shooting 40 percent (13-of-32) in the past five games, including 42 percent (8-of-19) in the four wins. In two of Vanderbilt’s recent games — against Mississippi State (on Jan. 11) and Arkansas (on Jan. 22) — the Commodores did not attempt a single 3-pointer in the second half. Prior to the Mississippi State game, it had been almost four years since Vanderbilt played an entire half without taking a 3-pointer, dating back to a 55-50 win over LSU on Feb. 3, 2011. Early in the season, the Commodores were hoisting 3s with regularity, attempting 10 or more in 14 of their first 15 games. But they’ve done so only once in the last five games, going 5-of-13 in the loss to Georgia.
l RUNNING INTO ANOTHER RANKED FOE: Thursday’s game against the No. 18/18 Bulldogs marks the fifth time this month — and sixth time this season — that Vanderbilt has lined up a ranked opponent. The Commodores are 1-4 against ranked foes, with the lone win coming against Mississippi State on Jan. 11. The losses came to Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M and UConn. Three of those teams are currently ranked in the Top-10 in both the AP and USA Today coaches’ poll — No. 1/1 South Carolina, No. 2/2 UConn and No. 6/6 Tennessee.
l SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: As would be expected of a team with Mississippi State’s record, the Bulldogs have compiled some impressive numbers across the board. They rank second in the SEC in scoring (77.4 ppg), first in offensive rebounds (18.1 per game), second in free throw shooting (72.1 percent) and third in 3-point shooting (33.3 percent). Defensively, they rank fourth in the conference in points allowed (54.8) and first in 3-point defense (limiting opponents to 22.1 percent). The Bulldogs also rank second in the league in blocked shots (4.9 bpg). … Mississippi State’s leading scorer is 6-1 freshman post player Victoria Vivans, who is averaging 14.3 points per game and ranks No. 6 in the SEC in scoring. … Vivans is the lone Bulldog to average double figures, but fellow freshman Morgan William is averaging 9.7 per game. … MSU has three players averaging more than five rebounds per game: Breanna Richardson and Martha Alwal led the team at 5.9 per game, and Vivans is averaging 5.1.
l SIZING UP THE SERIES: Thursday’s game marks the 52nd all-time meeting, and second of the season, between the Commodores and the Bulldogs. … Vanderbilt owns a 36-15 lead in the series, including posting a 78-62 win over MSU on Jan. 11 at Memorial Gym. … The series dates back to to the 1977-78 season. … Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb has gone 12-5 against Mississippi State, including 4-4 in Starkville, in her tenure at VU. … The Commodores are 11-11 all-time in Starkville. The most recent matchup in Starkville came last season, when the Bulldogs used a late shot by Martha Alwal to beat the Commodores, 64-62. … Vanderbilt is 25-4 against MSU in games played outside of Starkville (19-2 at Memorial Gym and 6-2 on neutral courts).
l MISSISSIPPI STATE’S SEASON TO DATE: The Bulldogs opened the season with 18 consecutive wins before falling to Vanderbilt, 78-62, on Jan. 11 at Memorial Gym. … MSU is 13-1 at home this season, with the lone loss coming to LSU in double-overtime on Jan. 15. … The 18-0 start was the best in team history and also represented the Bulldogs’ longest-ever winning streak. … MSU opened SEC play with three straight wins — a first-time feat for the program — before losing back-to-back games to Vanderbilt and LSU. Since then, the Bulldogs have won three straight conference games, beating Alabama at home and posting road wins over Ole Miss and Auburn. … The Bulldogs have knocked off two ranked foes this season, beating then-No. 17/16 West Virginia, 74-61, in Starkville on Nov. 20 and downing then-No. 19/19 Georgia, 64-56, in their SEC opener on Jan. 2. … Mississippi State played eight of its first nine games at home, and won seven of those games by double digits, including five wins by 30 points or more. … MSU has held opponents to less than 60 points in 15 games this season.
l LOOKING BACK: When Vanderbilt and Mississippi State met on Jan. 11, the Commodores snapped MSU’s 18-game, season-opening winning streak by posting a 78-62 victory over the Bulldogs. Vanderbilt, which entered the game with an 0-3 SEC record, led the contest from start to finish. Vanderbilt junior Morgan Batey tied her career high with 18 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Heather Bowe and Rebekah Dahlman added 17 points each and Rachel Bell had 12 for the Commodores (9-7, 1-3) , who shot 62 percent from the field and were 33-of-42 (78 percent) from the foul line. Vanderbilt did not attempt a three-pointer in the second half and was just 1-for-3 from 3-point range for the game. But the Commodores won the battle inside, outscoring Mississippi State 34-26 in the paint and winning the rebounding battle, 37-31. Breanna Richardson paced Mississippi State (18-1, 3-1) with 16 points and Victoria Vivians had 12. But the Bulldogs shot just 32 percent from the field, including 3-of-13 from 3-point range. The Commodores built a double-digit lead midway through the first half, stayed in control for much of the second half, and then fended off a Mississippi State comeback bid by closing the game on a 14-4 run over the final 4:03 after the Bulldogs had trimmed the deficit to six points.
l WORKING FOR THE SWAT TEAM: It’s been a long time since Vanderbilt had a shot-blocking specialist, but freshman Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau is beginning to earn that label. The 6-3 post player from Canada swatted five shots last Thursday against Arkansas to become the first Vanderbilt player to block five or more shots in a game game since Liz Sherwood had six against LSU on Jan. 10, 2008. For the season, Caron-Goudreau has blocked 20 shots, which leads the team by a wide margin. Surprisingly, Paris Kea, who is among the shortest players Vanderbilt roster at 5-9, ranks second on the team with seven. The Commodores have 52 blocked shots for the season for an average of 2.6 per game. That’s a huge jump from last season, when the Commodores ranked last in the country (343rd) with a total of just 24 (an average of 0.8 per game) for the year.
l MOST RECENT GAME: VU HOLDS BACK THE TIDE: After seeing a 16-point first-half advantage turn into a two-point deficit near the midway mark of the second half, the Commodores came up with a series of huge plays in the final eight minutes and defeated Alabama, 55-52, to gain their first SEC road win of the season. Vanderbilt freshman Paris Kea hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to give the Commodores (12-8, 3-4) a thee-point lead, and Alabama (12-10, 1-6) missed a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer. Morgan Batey scored a team-high 14 points or the Commodores, who have won four of their past five games. Paris Kea added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Ashley Williams led Alabama with 12 points. The Commodores — who defeated Arkansas 55-53 on Thursday by holding the Razorbacks without a field goal for the final 12:26 of the game — didn’t allow a basket in Sunday’s game until Alabama’s Karyla Middlebrooks scored in the paint at the 9:53 mark of the first half. The Tide opened the game with nine straight missed shots. Vanderbilt dominated early in Sunday’s game, jumping out to a 15-1 lead while Alabama was trapped in the field-goal drought. The advantage swelled to 21-5 with 5:58 left in the half, and the Commodores eventually carried a 32-24 lead into the locker room.
l INJURY REPORT: Christa Reed, Khaléann Caron-Goudreau and Kendall Shaw have each been sidelined by injuries over the past two weeks, which continues a season-long theme for the Commodores. Only twice in the first 20 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 while recovering from an ankle injury and then missing the past five games. Bell and Shaw have both been sidelined the past four 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). Freshman Rachel Bell and redshirt sophomore Kristen Gaffney have missed one game each with illness.
l STARTING TO LOOK FAMILIAR The Commodores appear to have settled on a starting five. 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 six games, which is 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 in various games this season, with Morgan Batey being the lone Commodore to start all 20 games.