Nov. 22, 2015
Teams: Presbyterian (1-3) vs. Vanderbilt (1-2)
Day, Date: Monday, Nov. 23
Tip-off time: 11:30 a.m.
Site: Memorial Gym (Nashville, Tenn.)
Radio: 95.9 FM / 560 AM
TV: SEC Network+ (online): View HERE
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased by calling 615-322-GOLD, visiting the McGugin Center ticket office or logging on to vucommodores.com.
The Vanderbilt women are always glad to be in their home gym — and on Monday, they will likely be even more happy about it than usual. After experiencing a tough two-game road swing that featured a loss at Dayton and heartbreaker against Green Bay, the Commodores return to Memorial Gym for Monday’s mid-day matchup against Presbyterian. The game will have an 11:30 a.m. tipoff time as the Commodores host the second annual Education Day. More than 3,000 school-aged children are scheduled to attend. Here’s a closer look at the game:
l The skinny on the Commodores: Vanderbilt (1-2) is looking to get back on track on Monday after dropping its past two games — an 81-56 loss at Dayton on Wednesday and a stinging 58-56 loss to Green Bay on Saturday. … Monday’s game marks the Commodores’ first game at Memorial Gym since a season-opening 89-39 win over Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 15. … Senior point guard Jasmine Jenkins continues to be the team’s go-to player on offense. She is averaging a team-high 17 points per game, and has reached double figures in all three games. Rayte’a Long is leading the Commodores’ top rebounder, averaging 5.7 boards — an impressive number for the reserve post player who is averaging 16 minutes of playing time per contest. Long matched her career high with nine rebounds in the loss to Green Bay.
l Last time out: For Vanderbilt, the matinee contest against Presbyterian comes on the heels of a stinging loss to Green Bay on Saturday, when the Commodores saw a fourth-quarter slip away. After making 9-of-11 shots from the floor in the third quarter and building an eight-point advantage, VU went more than nine minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter and Green Bay rallied for the win. Vanderbilt owned a 54-45 lead with 7:27 left in the game, but Green Bay (2-0) put together a 13-0 run over the next seven minutes to grab a 58-54 lead with less than a minute to play. After VU’s Minta Spears made a layup with 16 seconds to play to trim Green Bay’s lead to 58-56, the Commodores forced a turnover with 10 seconds remaining, but they came up empty on their final possession. Vanderbilt’s Rachel Bell finished with a team-high 13 points and Jasmine Jenkins and Christa Reed added 11 each. Long had a career-high 10 points and nine rebounds.
l Scouting Presbyterian: The Blue Hose have a very young roster that has no seniors and only three juniors. The rest of the 12-player roster is comprised of four freshmen and five sophomores. … Taylor Petty, a 5-9 freshman guard, is the team’s leading scorer at 10.8 points per game. Courtney Storey, a 5-6 sophomore guard, is also averaging double figures at 10.3 ppg, and Salina Virola, a 6-2 freshman post player, is averaging 9.5 points per game. … Virola is the team’s top rebounder at 5.5 per game. … The Blue Hose rely heavily on 3-pointers, averaging 22 attempts from long range per game. They are shooting 37 percent from behind the arc, with Petty leading the team in 3-pointers (nine) and 3-point attempts (29).
l Sizing up the Series: This is the first-ever regular season meeting between Vanderbilt and Presbyterian. It is one of three new opponents — along with Air Force and Drexel — that the Commodores will face this season. Vanderbilt potentially can play Ohio University in this week’s Thanksgiving Tournament, which would be another a first-time matchup for the Commodores.
l Update on the Blue Hose: The Blue Hose have been a busy team early in the season, with Monday’s game representing their fifth contest in 10 days (dating back to the season opener on Nov. 13). … In its most recent game, Presbyterian suffered an 85-57 road loss to East Carolina this past Friday. … The Blue Hose are playing their fourth road game of the season, having gone 0-3 on the road to this point. They were saddled with a 58-44 loss at Virginia Tech to open the season on Nov. 13, and lost at Kennesaw State, 49-47, two days later. After playing their first (and so far, only) home game of the season on Nov. 18 — a 95-56 win over Warren Wilson — the Blue Hose traveled to East Carolina last Friday and suffered the lopsided loss.
l Looking back to last year’s Education Day: Last season, the Commodores hosted the inaugural Education Day contest and rolled past St. Louis, 75-57, at Memorial Gym on Nov. 24 (almost the exact same date as this year’s game). Freshman Rachel Bell led the way with 18 points as VU improved to 4-0 on the season. Morgan Batey and Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau added 10 points apiece. The victory came before a large and enthusiastic crowd of 6,598, which included more than 3,000 school-aged children. The Commodore limited St. Louis to 31 percent shooting from the floor. The Billikens attempted a whopping 40 three-pointers — which accounted for well over half of their 71 shots from the floor — but didn’t have much effectiveness, shooting just 27 percent (11-of-40) from long range.