Feb. 4, 2015
Teams: Ole Miss (14-8, 4-5) at Vanderbilt (12-10, 3-6)
Day, Date: Thursday, Feb. 5
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.
Although the calendar has just recently flipped to February, there could be a hint of March Madness in the air on Thursday night when Vanderbilt (12-10, 3-6) hosts Ole Miss (14-8, 4-5) in an SEC contest at Memorial Gym. Both teams are looking to make a late-season push, and are posturing for postseason position. Clearly, both teams are in need of a victory, not only for morale purposes but also in regard to their status in the SEC standings. The Rebels, who enter the game on a four-game losing streak, currently own sole possession of eighth place in the SEC. But Ole Miss holds only a one-game lead over the Commodores, who sit in a three-way tie for ninth place — along with Florida and Missouri — after dropping their past two games. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss are each hoping to make a February surge that will put them in position to grab one of the top four seeds for the SEC tournament and earn the coveted double-bye for the tourney. However, if Vanderbilt or Ole Miss stumble down the stretch, they could find themselves among the bottom four teams in the conference, which would mean having to play on the opening night of the SEC tournament. Here’s a look at a few of the storylines surrounding Thursday’s game:
l WEBB AND FLOW: After being slowed by injuries throughout much of the season, Marqu’es Webb showed on Sunday what she is capable of when healthy. The sophomore post player scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds — season-highs in both categories — while logging 28 minutes of playing time in Vanderbilt’s 67-58 loss to Florida. Nine of Webb’s 12 rebounds came on the offensive end, and she also had a pair of steals. Webb, who is shooting a team-high 54 percent from the floor, was sidelined by injuries for four games in December, and has seen her playing time limited to 15 minutes or less in six other games. She has played 25 minutes or more in just three games this season. Her numbers in those three games? She is averaging 13.0 points and 9.6 rebounds, and is shooting 65 percent from the floor (13-of-20). Webb produced double-doubles in two of those games (15 points and 12 rebounds in Sunday’s game; 13 points and 11 rebounds against Green Bay on Nov. 11). For the season, she is averaging 9.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in games in which she plays 20 or more minutes.
l SUCH A REBEL: Ole Miss senior forward Tia Faleru is putting together a monster season. She is ranked fourth in the conference in scoring (14.6 ppg) and leads the SEC in rebounding (10.5 rpg). She has collected 10 or more rebounds in 11 games this season and is approaching a career milestone: She needs 42 more rebounds to reach the 800 mark. She has scored in double figures in 18 games this season and leads the conference in double-doubles with eight. But she isn’t the only player that the Commodores will need to contain on Sunday. Gracie Frizzell, a 5-10 junior guard, is one of the SEC’s most prolific outside shooters. She set a school record for single-game 3-pointers when she made eight shots from behind the arc against Alabama on Jan. 11. She has 34 three-pointers for the season, which ranks 11th in the SEC.
l HARD TIME SCORING: The Commodores have a rich tradition of strong offensive numbers, but they’ve run into problems during SEC play this season. Through the first nine conference games, the Commodores are averaging 55.2 points per game, which ranks 12th in the SEC and is more than 10 points below their SEC average (65.4) from last season. Vanderbilt has been limited to 59 points or less in seven of its past eight SEC games, including being held below 49 points in three of those games (losses to Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State).
l SCOUTING OLE MISS: The Rebels are not one of the better shooting teams in the conference — ranking 12th in the SEC in field goal percentage (38.5), 13th in 3-point shooting (24.9) and 12th in free-throw percentage (62.9). Still, Ole Miss ranks sixth in the conference at 67.8 points per game. … The Rebels are allowing 63.3 points per game, which ranks 13th in the SEC, but are ranked fifth in the SEC in 3-point defense (limiting opponents to 26.5 percent). … Ole Miss is tied for LSU for the conference lead in steals per game (11.7). … The Rebels’ top scorer is Tia Faleru, who is averaging 14.6 points per game, the fourth-highest mark in the conference. The 6-1 senior forward leads the SEC in rebounding at 10.5 per game, and has posted double-figures in rebounds in 11 games this season. … Erika Sisk is the team’s second-leading scorer at 9.4 ppg.
l SIZING UP THE SERIES: Thursday’s game marks the 45th meeting between the Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. … The Commodores own a 29-15 lead in the series, and have won five straight against the Rebels. … Vanderbilt has won 16 straight against Ole Miss at Memorial Gym, and owns a 16-3 all-time mark against the Rebs in Nashville. … The Commodores won the most recent matchup between the teams, posting an 80-74 victory in Oxford last season on Jan. 16. … Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb has gone 11-4 against Ole Miss during her tenure at VU, and she is 7-0 against the Rebels at Memorial Gym. … The Commodores have gone 20-4 against Ole Miss since the start of the 1995-96 season. … The series dates back to the 1977-78 season, which was VU’s first year of women’s basketball. … Ole Miss hasn’t posted a win at Memorial Gym since the 1986-87 season.
l OLE MISS’ SEASON TO DATE: The Rebels enter today’s action on a four-game losing skid, including a 77-59 home loss to top-ranked and unbeaten South Carolina in their most recent game on Sunday. Two of the other defeats during the Rebels losing skid also came against ranked foes — Mississippi State and Texas A&M — with the other loss coming at LSU. … Prior to the recent slump, Ole Miss owned a 4-1 SEC record, including an impressive win over Georgia and a road victory over Florida. … The Rebels opened the season with six wins in their first seven games, then endured a brief two-game losing streak in early December before ripping off five straight wins to improve 11-3 overall. The five-game winning streak was capped by a victory over Arkansas in their SEC opener on Jan. 2.
l LOOKING BACK: When Vanderbilt visited Ole Miss last season on Jan. 16, the Commodores used a big night from former standout Christina Foggie to earn an 80-74 victory. Foggie scored 20 of her team-high 28 points in the second half and finished 9-of-14 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Valencia McFarland had 28 points for Ole Miss and Tia Faleru had 20. Jasmine Lister finished with 17 points and Morgan Batey added 11 for the Commodores, who shot 57 percent from the floor in the win. Ole Miss was on fire in the first half, hitting 17-of-25 shots (68 percent) but carried only a one-point lead, 38-37, into the locker room.
l MOST RECENT GAME: COMMODORES’ COMEBACK FALLS SHORT: Trailing by 15 points early in the second half, the Commodores mounted a huge comeback against Florida on Sunday, but ultimately fell short in a 67-58 loss at Memorial Gym. The Commodores sliced the Gators’ lead to five points near the midway mark of the second half, but Florida answered with a 9-1 run to pull away for good. Florida, which came into the day ranked fourth in the SEC in free-throw shooting at 69.1 percent, went 18-of-19 from the line (94.7 percent), including 15-of-16 in the second half. The Commodores, conversely, had 20 attempts from the line, but converted only 13 (65 percent). The missed chances at the foul line sabotaged Vanderbilt’s second-half comeback bid and enabled the Gators (11-11, 3-6) to leave Nashville with a victory over Vanderbilt (12-10, 3-6) for the second straight year. Vanderbilt sophomore Marqu’es Webb had her second double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds — season-highs in both categories — but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Commodores from suffering the loss. Rebekah Dahlman finished with 13 points and six assists for Vanderbilt. Freshman Rachel Bell had 12 points for the Commodores. Vanderbilt had just nine players available for the game. Freshman Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau could not play due to illness, and three others — Khalèann Caron-Goudreau, Kendall Shaw and Christa Reed — continue to be sidelined by injuries..
l WE’LL BE TAKING THAT: Vanderbilt is routinely winning the battle on the glass this season. The Commodores have out-rebounded their opponents in each of the past eight games, and have done so in 18 of 22 games for the season. Vanderbilt’s strong numbers on the glass have been a balanced effort, with a total of seven players earning or sharing game-high rebounding honors this season. The list includes: Morgan Batey (six games), Marqu’es Webb (four), Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudrea (four), Kristen Gaffney (three), Paris Kea (three), Heather Bowe (three) and Rebekah Dahlman (one).
l LONG-RANGE DROP OFF: Vanderbilt has historically been one of the most prolific 3-point shooting teams in the SEC, but that tradition hasn’t continued this season. In their first nine SEC games, the Commodores have attempted only 88 shots from 3-point range (9.8 per game). They have made 28 of those attempts for an average of 3.1 per game, which ranks 11th in the conference. In the past six games, Vanderbilt has taken just 44 shots from 3-point range (7.3 per game) and has made 15 of those attempts (2.5 per game). 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 twice in the last seven games.
l SHE’S WITH US NOW: Vanderbilt assistant coach Kim Rosamond played at Ole Miss from 1995-98, and helped lead the Rebels to a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament. She also served as an assistant coach at Ole Miss for five seasons.
l IMPROVING THEIR RESUMÈ: Vanderbilt has posted a 1-5 record against ranked opponents this season, but the Commodores have several more chances to improve that mark in the next few weeks, including three matchups against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top-10: Vanderbilt hosts No. 10 Kentucky on Feb. 8; visits top-ranked South Carolina on Feb. 15; and travels to No. 6 Tennessee on March 1.
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 two weeks, which continues a season-long theme for the Commodores. Only twice in the first 22 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 seven games. Reed and Shaw have both been sidelined the past six 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 Sunday’s game against Florida due to illness). Freshman Rachel Bell and redshirt sophomore Kristen Gaffney have missed one game each with illness.
l ANOTHER NEW LOOK: The Commodores have used nine different starting lineups this season, with the latest new look coming Sunday against Florida. Due to the absence of freshman Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau, who was unavailable due to the illness, the Commodores starting five included Heather Bowe, Marqu’es Webb, Rebekah Dahlman, Jasmine Jenkins and Morgan Batey, marking the first time this season that combination had been used. Prior to Sunday, the Commodores had gone seven consecutive games with the same starting five of Dahlman, Caron-Goudreau, Jenkins, Bowe and Batey. Before that stretch, head coach Melanie Balcomb had used eight different combinations through the first 14 games. 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 22 games. Here’s a quick look at who’s been used in starting lineup: Batey (22 games), Rebekah Dahlman (20), Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (16), Jasmine Jenkins (13) Heather Bowe (12), Marqu’es Webb (8), Paris Kea (6), Kristen Gaffney (5), Rachel Bell (4) and Christa Reed (4).
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 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 10. The Commodores have 56 blocked shots for the season for an average of 2.5 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.