Feb. 12, 2015
Teams: Vanderbilt (13-11, 4-7) at No. 1/2 South Carolina (22-1, 10-0)
Day, Date: Sunday, Feb. 15
Tip-off time: 11 a.m. (CT)
Site: Colonial Life Arena (Columbia, S.C.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
TV: ESPNU
As they head down the stretch, the Vanderbilt women are seeing an increase in the degree of difficulty of their opponents. After facing No. 11/12 Kentucky last Sunday, the Commodores will next be matched up against one of the nation’s most powerful teams when they face No. 1/2 South Carolina (22-1, 10-0) on Sunday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. Led by reigning SEC Player of the Year Tiffany Mitchell, the Gamecocks are having a historic season, and they are ranked among the top seven teams in the country in field goal percentage, rebounding margin and defense. They opened the year with 22 straight wins before suffering an 87-62 road loss to UConn on Monday night. The Commodores, meanwhile, are hoping to make a late-season push that will strengthen their postseason resumè. Vanderbilt, which is 1-6 against ranked opponents this season, has been idle since last Sunday, when the Commodores fell to Kentucky, 82-68, at home. Here’s a look at a few of the storylines surrounding Sunday’s game in South Carolina:
l ‘DOZEN’ IT FEEL GREAT? With March Madness around the corner, the Commodores are looking to extend several streaks. Head coach Melanie Balcomb has led the team to the NCAA Tournament in each of her 12 seasons since arriving at Vanderbilt, and she is one of only six coaches to have done so each year during that span. The others are: Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Tara VanDerveer (Stanford), Joanne P. McCallie (Mich. State/Duke), Muffet McGraw (Notre Dame) and Andy Landers (Georgia). Overall, the Commodores have made the NCAA tournament in each of the past 15 seasons and 25 of the past 26. They have made 26 total appearances, which ranks third among the SEC teams behind only Tennessee and Georgia. Over the next three weeks, the Commodores will look to bolster their chances of making this year’s tournament by producing a strong finish to the regular season. Pulling off a big upset would obviously help the cause, and the Commodores have two chances to do that. Along with Sunday’s game against No. 1/2 South Carolina, the Commodores visit No. 6/6 Tennessee for the regular-season finale on March 1. Vanderbilt is No. 48 in the RPI released on Tuesday.
l THREE IN DOUBLE-DIGITS: In last Sunday’s loss to Kentucky, the Commodores had three double-digit scorers — Rebekah Dahlman (20 points), Heather Bowe (12) and Morgan Batey (12) — which marked the third consecutive contest in which three Vanderbilt players have scored 10 points or more. That’s an encouraging trend for the Commodores, who are 9-3 this season when at least three players reach double figures. Prior to the recent three-game stretch, the Commodores had two players or fewer reach double figures in seven of their first eight SEC games. For the season, Vanderbilt is just 4-8 when two or fewer reach the mark.
l SCOUTING THE GAMECOCKS: Entering Thursday’s night against LSU, the Gamecocks were ranked No. 1 in the conference in the following 10 categories — assists per game (17.2), blocked shots per game (6.2), field goal percentage (48.2), field-goal defense (33.9) rebound margin (11.1), scoring defense (51.6), scoring margin (25.8), scoring offense (77.3), assist-turnover ratio and 3-point percentage (35.5). … The Gamecocks have three players averaging in double figures in scoring: Tiffany Mitchell (14.9 ppg), A’ja Wilson (13.1 ppg) and Alaina Coates (11.0 ppg). … Coates leads the team in rebounding at 8.5 per game. … The Gamecocks are experienced group, with all five starters returning from last year’s 29-5 team that won the SEC title and advanced to the Sweet 16.
l SIZING UP THE SERIES: Sunday’s game marks the 32nd meeting between Vanderbilt and South Carolina, with the Commodores owning a 21-11 lead in the series. … South Carolina has been in control of late, winning the past five matchups and six of the last seven. … South Carolina took two games from the Commodores last season, winning 76-66 in Columbia and posting a 61-57 win in Nashville (more on those games below). … Vanderbilt owns an 8-7 all-time record in Colonial Life Arena, but has lost the last three games at the venue. … Head coach Melanie Balcomb has gone 9-7 against the Gamecocks, including 5-3 in Columbia, during her tenure at Vanderbilt. … Prior to the 2009-10 season, the Commodores owned a 20-5 lead in the series, including winning eight straight from the 2003-04 to the 2008-09 seasons.
l SOUTH CAROLINA’S SEASON RECAP: Under seventh-year head coach Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks are having a historic season. They opened the season with 22 consecutive wins before dropping a road contest to UConn on Monday night. … In late November, South Carolina moved into the No. 1 spot in the AP poll for the first time in school history. They have remained there for the past 12 weeks, but are likely to be be bumped down when the next poll is released Monday. … The Gamecocks have posted a 5-1 record against ranked teams, including road wins over Duke and Georgia, along with a neutral-site victory over Syracuse. … South Carolina has posted victory margins of 20-plus points in 12 games this season, including five of its first 10 conference games.
l LOOKING BACK: South Carolina swept a pair of regular-season matchups with the Commodores last season, winning 76-66 in Columbia on Jan. 5 and earning a 61-57 win in Nashville on Jan. 26. In the first meeting, South Carolina post player Alaina Coates finished with a team-high 24 points, including scoring two key baskets in the second half after Vanderbilt had pulled within striking distance. Tiffany Mitchell added 19 for the Gamecocks. Vanderbilt, which entered the day as the SEC’s leader in field-goal percentage, was just 23-of-61 from the floor (37.7 percent). Former Vanderbilt star Christina Foggie finished with 16 points, but was 5-of-16 from the floor. Jasmine Lister added 13 points, Jasmine Jenkins had 12 and Kylee Smith had 11 for the Commodores. Vanderbilt trailed by as many as 17 points early in the second half, but trimmed the deficit to 63-55 after two free throws by Foggie with roughly seven minutes to play before the Gamecocks pulled away for good. …. When the teams met again in Nashville exactly three weeks later, the Gamecocks limited Vanderbilt to 37 percent shooting and held off the Commodores, 61-57, in a thriller at Memorial Gym. Tiffany Mitchell scored a team-high 14 points for South Carolina, including two pivotal baskets in the final 50 seconds to break open a tie game. Two late free throws by Marqu’es Webb tied the game at 57-57 with 1:20 to go. But Mitchell scored on SC’s next possession, then came up with a steal and a layup with 32 seconds left to essentially seal it. Foggie finished with a team-high 20 points for Vanderbilt.
l MOST RECENT GAME: COMMODORES FALL TO KENTUCKY: Despite a season-high 20 points from Rebekah Dahlman, the Commodores came up short against No. 11/12 Kentucky, 82-68, on Sunday at Memorial Gym. Vanderbilt (13-11, 4-7) stayed within striking distance of the Wildcats (18-5, 7-3) for much of the way. The Commodores trailed 32-31 at the half and were down only 62-56 after a pair of free throws by Marqu’es Webb with 8:29 left in the game. Kentucky, however, pulled away down the stretch, using a continual string of free throws to fend off Vanderbilt while closing the game on a 20-12 run. The Wildcats — who entered the day ranked No. 2 in the nation in free throws attempted per game (28) — converted 21-of-23 at the foul line for the game, including going 19-of-20 in the second half. Kentucky’s Linnae Harper finished with a game-high 22 points for the Wildcats, who stretched their winning streak in the series to eight games. Makayla Epps added 18 points, including 13 in the first half. Morgan Batey and Heather Bowe scored 12 each for Vanderbilt, and freshman Rachel Bell had eight points and a team-high six rebounds.
l STAYING INSIDE THE ARC: Vanderbilt has historically been a team that relies heavily on the 3-point shot. But this season, the Commodores are taking far few shots from long range. Prior to their 4-of-13 showing last Sunday against Kentucky, the Commodores had attempted only 97 shots from 3-point range (9.7 per game) in their first 10 SEC games. For the season, the Commodores are shooting 31.3 percent from 3-point range, which ranks sixth in the SEC, but they are averaging just 3.4 three-pointers per game, which ranks 12th in the conference.
l HARD TIME SCORING: The Commodores have run into problems on the offensive end during SEC play. They are averaging 56.6 points per game, which ranks 10th in the SEC and is almost 10 points below their SEC average (65.4) from last season. Vanderbilt has been limited to 59 points or less in eight of its past 10 SEC games, including scoring 49 or fewer points in three of those games (losses to Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State).
l WEBB AND FLOW: Although she has slowed by injuries for much of the season, Marqu’es Webb showed what she is capable of doing when she’s healthy during the game against Florida. The sophomore post player scored a season-high 15 points and pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds while logging 28 minutes of playing time in Vanderbilt’s 67-58 loss. Nine of Webb’s 12 rebounds came on the offensive end, and she also had a pair of steals. Webb, who is shooting 56.1 percent from the floor, has played 25 minutes or more in just three games this season. Her numbers in those three games are impressive. She averaged 13.0 points and 9.6 rebounds, and shot 65 percent from the floor (13-of-20). For the season, she is averaging 9.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in games in which she plays 20 or more minutes. Webb missed four games in December, and has seen her playing time limited to 15 minutes or less in seven other games, including playing just 13 minutes last Sunday against Kentucky.
l INJURY REPORT: Redshirt sophomore Kendall Shaw and true freshmen Christa Reed and Khaléann Caron-Goudreau have each been sidelined by injuries over the past three weeks, which continues a season-long theme for the Commodores. Only twice in the first 24 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 due to injuries, illness or other reasons. Khaléann Caron-Goudreau sat out the first 12 games while recovering from an ankle injury and has missed the past nine games. Reed and Shaw have both been sidelined the past eight games with ankle injuries. 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 and then sat out the game against Florida due to illness). Freshman Rachel Bell and redshirt sophomore Kristen Gaffney have missed one game each with illness.
l STARTING CHANGES: Due to injuries and inconsistent play, the Commodores have used 10 different starting lineups this season. In the past three games, coach Melanie Balcomb has used the combination of Morgan Batey, Heather Bowe, Rebekah Dahlman, Jasmine Jenkins and Marqu’es Webb. Prior to that three-game stretch, the Commodores had gone seven consecutive games with the same starting five of Dahlman, Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau, Jenkins, Bowe and Batey, which represented the long stretch of the season in which the same group was used. 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 eight different combinations being used through the first 14 games. Morgan Batey is the lone Commodore to start all 22 games. Here’s a quick look at who’s been used in starting lineup: Batey (24 games), Rebekah Dahlman (22), Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (16), Jasmine Jenkins (15) Heather Bowe (14), Marqu’es Webb (10), Paris Kea (6), Kristen Gaffney (5), Rachel Bell (4) and Christa Reed (4).
l MILD THING, YOU MAKE OUR HEART SING Kristen Gaffney, the mild-mannered redshirt sophomore post player, was among the biggest heroes in last Thursday’s comeback win over Ole Miss. She delivered the game-winning basket when she converted a layup with six seconds to play, breaking a 54-54 tie and giving the Commodores their first lead of the second half. Gaffney finished with just four points, but her late-game heroics capped a 16-point second-half deficit. The memorable moment was a long time in the making for Gaffney, who was sidelined her entire freshman season and most of last year by knee injuries. (She has suffered ACL injuries in both knees during her college career). Gaffney is one of the less emotional players on the roster, and head coach Melanie Balcomb has often said that Gaffney’s level-headedness has a calming effect on the other players during intense situations. “It takes a lot to get me excited,” Gaffney said with a smile after the win. Gaffney has seen action in 20 games this season, including making five starts, and is averaging 6.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. She has reached double figures in scoring in seven games this season.