March 5, 2015
Event: SEC Tournament, Second Round
Teams: No. 11-seeded Vanderbilt (15-15) vs. No. 6-seeded Kentucky (21-8)
Day, Date: Thursday, March 5
Tip-off time: 7:30 p.m. (CT)
Site: Verizon Arena (Little Rock, Arkansas)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
Viewing: SEC Network-Plus
Vanderbilt’s all-time SEC Tournament record: 46-29
Head coach’s Melanie Balcomb’s all-time SEC Tournament record: 21-9
Vanderbilt SEC Tournament titles: Six (2009, 2007, 2004, 2002, 1995, 1993)
Semifinal appearances: 18
The Vanderbilt women are hoping to generate some March Madness this week, and they took a step in the right direction on Wednesday night. Playing in the opening round of the SEC Tournament, the No. 11-seeded Commodores snapped a three-game losing streak by downing No. 14-seeded Alabama, 66-56, to advance to today’s second-round matchup against No. 6-seeded and No. 12-ranked Kentucky. Vanderbilt shot 50 percent from the floor in the win over Alabama, and improved to 11-0 this season when leading with five minutes remaining in the game. The Commodores received double-digit scoring performances from a trio of underclassmen — redshirt freshman Rebekah Dahlman and true freshman Paris Kea scored 16 points each and sophomore Marq’es Webb had 14. Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb improved her SEC Tournament record to 21-9. The Commodores have won at least one game in the SEC Tournament in 12 of 13 seasons during Balcomb’s tenure, with last year being the lone exception. Here’s a few storylines surrounding today’s game against Kentucky:
l DOES SHE EVER MISS?: Marqu’es Webb is shooting 59.3 percent from the floor this season — and lately, she’s done even better than that. Including Wednesday’s 6-of-10 performance from the floor against Alabama, Webb is shooting 65.8 percent (27-of-41) during the Commodores’ past six games while averaging over 10 points per game in that stretch. Webb played 21 minutes in the win over Alabama, finishing with seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots to go along with her 14 points. Webb has been slowed by injuries throughout the season — including missing four games in December — but has shown flashes of just what a dominating player she can be. In the six games this season in which she has logged 25 minutes or more of playing time, Webb is averaging 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 65.0 percent (26-of-40) from the floor. She posted double-doubles in three of those games.
lDIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE: The No. 11-seeded Commodores entered this year’s tournament in an unfamiliar position. This is the first time since the 1982-83 campaign that Vanderbilt ended the regular season with a losing overall record, and marks the first time during head coach Melanie Balcomb’s tenure that the Commodores are seeded lower than No. 8 for the SEC tourney. Vanderbilt, in fact, has never been seeded lower than ninth for the conference tourney in the program’s history. The Commodores have entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed or higher in nine of the past 12 seasons under Balcomb, including being one of the top four seeds a total of five times (2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2005) in that span.
l(LITTLE) ROCK SOLID: This is the fourth time that the SEC tourney has been held in Little Rock — and the Commodores have historically enjoyed their visits. With Wednesday night’s win over Alabama, the Commodores improved their all-time record to 7-2 in their three visits to Little Rock, highlighted by the 2009 tournament championship run that featured wins over Georgia, LSU and Auburn. Vanderbilt also advanced to the SEC semifinals during the 2003 tournament in Little Rock.
lHISTORY OF SUCCESS: Head coach Melanie Balcomb has a rich history of postseason success at Vanderbilt. She has guided the Commodores to three SEC tournament titles (2009, 2007 and 2004) and has posted a career record of 21-9 in the SEC Tournament. From 2004 through 2009, her Vanderbilt teams compiled a 12-3 mark in SEC tournament play, and they have won at least one tournament game in 12 of her 13 seasons at helm (with last year being the lone exception). Overall, the Commodores have won the tournament six times in the program’s history — 2009, 2007, 2004, 2002, 1995 and 1993.
lNOT MUCH EXPERIENCE: As would be expected from a young team, the Commodores don’t have much SEC Tournament experience. Coming into this week, only two players on the roster — juniors Morgan Batey and Jasmine Jenkins — had played in more than two SEC tournament game. (They had seen action in three games each). The remaining 11 players on the roster came into this week with a combined total of just eight games of tourney experience: Heather Bowe (two games), Kendall Shaw (two), Rayte’a Long (two), Marqu’es Webb (one) and Kristen Gaffney (one). Six players on the roster — the five true freshmen, along with redshirt freeman Rebekah Dahlman — had never played in an SEC tournament game.
lSCOUTING KENTUCKY: The Wildcats have an explosive offense that features five players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Makayla Epps at 15.1 points per game. The others are Jennifer O’Neill (13.4 ppg), Linnae Harper (12.0), Janee Thompson (10.3) and Bria Goss (10.1). … UK ranks second in the country in free throws attempted, behind only Mississippi State. … Harper leads the team in rebounding at 7.6 per game. … The Wildcats rank second in the SEC in scoring (74.9 points per game), but are 10th in field goal percentage (39.4), 11th in 3-point percentage (27.7) and eighth in free throw percentage (66.7). … Defensively, Kentucky ranks last in the SEC in points allowed per game (68.7), 11th in field goal defense (40.3) and 12th in 3-point defense (30.0). … Kentucky is allowing opponents to get 41.8 rebounds per game, which ranks last in the league. (VU is first, limiting opponents to 31.3 per game). … UK is third in the conference in blocked shots (4.3) and seventh in steals (9.8) per game.
lSIZING UP THE SERIES: Today’s game marks the 49th meeting between the Vanderbilt and Kentucky, with the Commodores owning a 27-21 lead in the series. The Wildcats have been in control of late, however, winning the past eight matchups, including an 82-68 win over VU this season on Feb. 8 in Nashville (More on that game below). … The Commodores and Cats have meet six times in the SEC Tournament, with the series tied at 3-3. Today’s game will be the third postseason meeting between the teams since 2011: Kentucky beat the Commodores 76-65 in the third round of the 2013 tourney and won 69-56 in the 2011 semifinals. … VU defeated Kentucky in the SEC finals in 1993 and 2004. … Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb has gone 10-9 against Kentucky during her tenure at VU. … The Commodores went 22-1 against the Cats from the beginning of the 1991-92 season through the end of the 2008-09 campaign. But VU is just 1-9 against Kentucky since then.
lUPDATE ON THE WILDCATS: Kentucky is 29-36 all-time in the SEC Tournament. … The Wildcats closed the regular season with two straight wins, posting a road victory over Arkansas last Thursday and then upsetting No. 2/2 South Carolina 67-56 this past Sunday. … UK won eight of its first 11 SEC games, but then endured a three-game skid — including losses to Tennessee, Texas A&M and Ole Miss — before rebounding with the two wins to close the regular season. … The Wildcats are 2-1 in neutral-site games this season, losing to Illinois and defeating Oklahoma and South Florida. All three of those games came during the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas.
lLOOKING BACK: When Kentucky visited Vanderbilt on Feb. 8, the Wildcats pulled away in the final 10 minutes to beat the Commodores, 82-68. Fueled by a season-high 20 points from Rebekah Dahlman, Vanderbilt stayed within striking distance of the Wildcats 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. But Kentucky used a continual string of free throws to fend off Vanderbilt while closing the game on a 20-12 run. Kentucky’s Linnae Harper finished with a game-high 22 points for the Wildcats. 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. Kentucky finished with only a slight edge in rebounding (38-35) but outscored Vanderbilt 44-28 in the paint. Vanderbilt owned a 19-12 lead at the 12:34 mark of the first half after putting together a 12-2 run that featured baskets by five different players. But the Wildcats answered back with a 15-6 spurt to grab a 27-25 lead on a layup by Epps with 7:15 to play in the half. Vanderbilt never led again, although the Commodores tied the score on two occasions in the final 3:04 of the half.
lMOST RECENT GAME: VU DOWNS ALABAMA: With a trio of underclassmen leading the way, No. 11-seeded Vanderbilt pulled away down the stretch to defeat No. 14-seeded Alabama 66-56 at Verizon Arena on Wednesday in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. Redshirt freshman Rebekah Dahlman and true freshman Paris Kea scored 16 points apiece and sophomore Marqu’es Webb added 14 points and seven rebounds to help Vanderbilt (15-15) snap a three-game losing streak. Ashley Williams scored a game-high 21 for the Tide (13-19), which ended the season on a six-game skid. Vanderbilt was clinging to a shaky four-point lead with 5:08 to play, but used a series of clutch plays and some solid work at the foul line — making 4-of-5 attempts in the final 1:37 — to secure the victory. The Commodores improved 11-0 in games in which they own the lead with five minutes remaining. The Commodores won the rebounding battle, 34-27, and took care of the ball, committing a season-low 11 turnovers. Dahlman finished 6-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Kea had four assists and four rebounds to along with her 16 points, and Webb — who was shooting 67.8 percent in the previous five games — went 6-of-10 from the field. Morgan Batey had nine rebounds.
lCHALLENGE AFTER CHALLENGE: Sunday’s 72-42 loss against No. 6/6 Tennessee marked the ninth time this season that the Commodores lined up against a ranked opponent, and was Vanderbilt’s fourth game against a Top-10 foe. And that stat only tells part of the story. For the season, the Commodores have faced 11 teams that are currently ranked among the Top-40 in RPI (No. 2 Tennessee, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 5 UConn, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 14 Dayton, No. 17 Arizona State, No. 22 Green Bay, No. 25 James Madison, No. 26 Mississippi State, No. 28 Texas A&M and No. 39 Minnesota). Not surprisingly, the Commodores’ strength of schedule is ranked No. 4 in the nation, according to RPIratings.com. Although Vanderbilt owns a 1-8 record against ranked opponents — with the victory being a 78-62 win over previously-unbeaten Mississippi State on Jan. 19 — the Commodores have defeated five teams that are ranked among the Top-50 in RPI. The list includes wins over No. 22 Green Bay, No. 25 James Madison, No. 26 Mississippi State, No. 39 Minnesota and No. 46 Arkansas. (Note: RPI rankings in the above stats are according to NCAA.com).
lTHE TRADITION CONTINUES: Since the arrival of head coach Melanie Balcomb, the Commodores have finished among the top-20 nationally in field goal percentage in 11 of the past 12 seasons — and they’re on pace to do it again. Including Wednesday’s win over Alabama, the Commodores are shooting 45.5 percent from the floor, which ranks 11th in the country and second in the SEC. Sophomore Marqu’es Webb is shooting a team-high 59.3 percent, and four of her teammates are also above 50 percent: Heather Bowe (53.5), Morgan Batey (52.3), Kristen Gaffney (50.9) and Rayte’a Long (50.0). All five players have seen action in 20 or more games. The Commodores have ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation on field goal percentage six times during the Balcomb era, including leading the country at 51.3 percent in 2002-03.
l‘DOZEN’ IT FEEL GREAT? With March Madness around the corner, it’s certainly worth noting that head coach Melanie Balcomb has led the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament in each of her 12 seasons since arriving at Vanderbilt. 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.
lINJURY REPORT: With her team slowed by injuries throughout the season, head coach Melanie Balcomb has had the luxury of having all 13 of her players available for only two games this year (which came in January against Tennessee and LSU). Redshirt sophomore Kendall Shaw and true freshmen Christa Reed and Khaléann Caron-Goudreau have each been out of action for much of the SEC schedule, and 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 sat out the first 12 games while recovering from an ankle injury and has now missed the past 15 games while dealing with a back injury. Reed and Shaw have both been sidelined the past 14 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.
lSTARTING IT UP: For the 11th time this season, the Commodores used a new starting lineup on Wednesday against Alabama, with Morgan Batey absent from the starting five for the first time all season. Vanderbilt’s starting lineup was in flux for the first half of the season — with eight different combinations used in the first 14 games — but the changes have slowed down over the past few weeks. Prior to Wednesday, head coach Melanie Balcomb has used only two combinations for the previous 15 games. Morgan Batey, Heather Bowe, Rebekah Dahlman, Jasmine Jenkins and Marqu’es Webb had started the past eight games. Before that, Dahlman, Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau, Jenkins, Bowe and Batey had formed the starting five for seven straight 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.
lWORKING FOR THE SWAT TEAM: Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau has given the Commodores a new element this season. The 6-3 post player from Canada has notched a team-high 28 blocked shots, which is more than the entire Vanderbilt roster compiled last season (24). In Vanderbilt’s win over Arkansas on Jan. 22, Caron-Goudreau finished with five blocked shots, becoming 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. The Commodores have 71 blocked shots for the season. That’s a huge jump from last season, when the Commodores ranked last in the country (343rd) with an average of 0.8 per game for the year. Freshman guard Paris Kea, who is among the shortest players Vanderbilt roster at 5-9, ranks second on the team with 10.
lDAHLMAN SEEKS CONSISTENCY: Vanderbilt redshirt freshman Rebekah Dahlman was back to her normal self in Wednesday’s win over Alabama, scoring 16 points and finishing 6-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Dahlman endured a pair of tough games to end the regular season, going 2-of-18 from the floor in the two games. Prior to last week, Dahlman had put together a four-game stretch in which she averaged 14.7 points per contest and shot 58 percent (11-of-19) from 3-point range. She scored a team-high 18 points in the win at Florida, hitting a season-high five 3-pointers while playing all 45 minutes of the overtime contest. Her emergence in recent games is a crucial development for the young Commodores, who have no seniors on the roster. Last season, Vanderbilt had two unquestioned leaders — seniors Christina Foggie and Jasmine Lister — who combined for 45.7 percent of the team’s scoring and accounted for 80.1 percent of the team’s 3-pointers. (Foggie and Lister scored 1,015 of VU’s 2,218 total points, and produced 133 of Vanderbilt’s 166 three-pointers). Through 30 games this season, a total of nine players — among the 13 on the roster — have either led the team in scoring or tied for game-high honors.
lGOING AWAY FROM THE 3s: Vanderbilt attempted just five 3-pointers in the victory over Alabama on Wednesday night, finishing 3-for-5. It was the fifth time this season that Vanderbilt attempted five 3-pointers or fewer against an SEC opponent. … After making a season-high eight 3-pointers during the overtime victory against Florida on Feb. 19, the Commodores went cold again. They made just 7-of-35 (20 percent) attempts from 3-point range during the final three games of the regular season. … The Commodores, traditionally one of best outside shooting teams in the conference, averaged only 3.2 three-pointers per game in SEC play this season, which ranked 11th in the conference. Vanderbilt attempted nine or fewer 3-pointers in seven SEC games, including four games in which the Commodores attempted five or fewer.