March 1, 2016
Event: SEC Tournament
Teams: No. 11-seeded Vanderbilt (16-13) vs. No. 14-seeded Ole Miss (10-19)
Day, Date: Wed., March 2
Tip-off time: Appx. 12:30 p.m. CT
Site: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Radio: 560 AM / 95.9 FM
TV: SEC Network
Vanderbilt’s current streak: Won one
Vanderbilt’s last five/10 games: 1-4/2-8
Ole Miss’ current streak: Lost 10 straight
Ole Miss’ last five/10 games: 0-5/0-10
SEC Tournament bracket: HERE
Game Notes: Vanderbilt Game Notes (SEC) 
l Ole Miss Game Notes (SEC)
As they head to Jacksonville, Fla., for this week’s SEC Tournament, the Vanderbilt women won’t be a high seed — but they will have high expectations. With momentum at their backs and a navigable path in front of them, the No. 11-seeded Commodores — who ended an eight-game losing streak on Sunday by upsetting No. 24 Missouri on the road — open the tournament on Wednesday, facing No. 14-seeded Ole Miss in the first round. Here’s a few things to keep an eye this week as the Commodores head into the postseason:
l Studying the bracket: Thanks to the somewhat unusual format of a 14-team bracket, Vanderbilt enters the tourney already aware of its potential opponents for the first three rounds of the tournament: After playing Ole Miss on Wednesday, the Commodores would face No. 6-seeded Georgia (which lost star player Shacobia Barbee to an ankle injury last week) on Thursday night, and would then play No. 3-seeded Mississippi State on Friday. Although Vanderbilt went 0-3 against those teams during the regular season, the three losses came by a total of 14 points. All three games were decided in the final 40 seconds:
* Vanderbilt fell to Ole Miss 55-52 in Oxford on Jan. 3 when Erika Sisk converted a 3-point play with 1.5 seconds remaining. Sisk’s basket gave Ole Miss its first lead since the opening minute of the game. The Rebels have gone 1-15 since that game.
* Vanderbilt trailed Georgia by three points with 39 seconds remaining, but UGA’s Caliya Robinson made a jumper with 21 seconds to play that enabled the Bulldogs to eventually squeak past the Commodores, 64-58 on Jan. 31 at Memorial Gym. Georgia’s Barbee, who had ankle surgery last week, finished with a game-high 15 points for the Bulldogs.
* Vanderbilt trailed Mississippi State by three points with 33 seconds remaining before the Bulldogs made four consecutive free throws and ultimately held off the Commodores, 66-61, on Feb. 25.
l Commodores’ SEC Tournament history: Vanderbilt owns a 46-30 all-time record in the SEC Tournament, and the Commodores have won the tournament six times in the program’s history — 2009, 2007, 2004, 2002, 1995 and 1993. … Vanderbilt has reached the tournament’s semifinals 18 times. … Head coach Melanie Balcomb has guided the Commodores to three SEC tournament titles (2009, 2007 and 2004) and has posted a career record of 21-10 in the tournament. … Vanderbilt has won at least one SEC tournament game in 12 of 13 seasons under Balcomb (with 2014 being the lone exception). … From 2004 through 2009, the Commodores compiled a 12-3 mark in SEC tournament play. … Prior to last season, the Commodores had never been seeded lower than ninth for the tourney. … Vanderbilt will be participating in the first round of the SEC Tournament this season for the second consecutive year. Last season, the Commodores rolled past Alabama in the first round, and then flirted with an upset of Kentucky the following day before suffering a 67-61 season-ending loss to the Wildcats.
l February Frustrations: Wednesday’s first-round game between Vanderbilt and Ole Miss will feature two teams who are looking to create some March magic after enduring frustrating Februarys. The teams combined to post a 1-15 record last month — Vanderbilt was 1-7 and Ole Miss 0-8 — with the lone victory being the Commodores’ road upset of No. 24 Missouri on Sunday afternoon. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss combined to go 6-9 in January, including victories by both teams over Kentucky.
l Challenging slate: Vanderbilt closed out its regular-season schedule with six consecutive contests against ranked opponents. The string included games against No. 25 Tennessee, No. 18 Kentucky, No. 25 Florida, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 14 Mississippi State and No. 24 Missouri. … Vanderbilt went 2-7 against ranked teams for the season, beating No. 24 Missouri on Sunday and posting a 71-69 victory over then-No. 12 Kentucky 71-69 in Lexington on Jan. 25. The win over the Wildcats was Vanderbilt’s first road win over a ranked opponent since winning at Oklahoma in 2012. … Vanderbilt, which went 1-9 against ranked teams last season, played only one ranked foe this season from Nov. 15 though Jan. 20, but played eight ranked teams from Jan. 21 through the end of the regular season.
l What’s trending for VU: Despite the difficult days of February, the Commodores continue to rank among the nation’s best in several significant categories. They are No. 12 in the country in field-goal percentage (46.3 percent) and 19th in 3-point accuracy (36.4 percent) — and they lead the SEC in both categories. On the defensive end, the Commodores are surrendering 56.3 points per game, which ranks 34th in the country and fourth in the SEC. … Vanderbilt held its opponents to less than 50 percent shooting from the floor in 26 of its 29 games regular-season games. The lone exceptions were South Carolina, Florida and Texas A&M. … The Commodores are limiting opponents to 27.8 rebounds per game, which is easily the best mark in the conference.
l Scouting Ole Miss: The Rebels, who have gone winless since beating Kentucky on Jan. 21, are ranked 150th in the nation in scoring (64.9 points per game) and 196th in defense (allowing 64.3 ppg). But the Rebels are ranked among the nation’s Top-10 in three important categories: They are No. 3 in offensive rebounds per game (18.0), No. 4 in turnovers forced per game (22.4) and No. 10 in total steals (318). … Ole Miss ranks last in the SEC in field goal percentage (34.9) and free throw percentage (60.6). … Although the Rebels are last in the SEC in field-goal defense (42.0 percent), they rank third in the conference in 3-point defense (27.4). … Ole Miss star Shandricka Sessom ranks sixth in the SEC in scoring at 15.6 points per game and 10th in field goal percentage at 37.6. … Erika Sisk is fourth in the conference in steals at 2.3 per game.
l Series History: Wednesday’s game will mark the 47th meeting between Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, with the Commodores owning a 30-16 lead in the series. … Ole Miss defeated the Commodores earlier this season, posting a 55-52 win in Oxford on Jan. 3 when Erika Sisk converted a 3-point play with 1.5 seconds remaining (more on that game below). … Wednesday’s game will be the first time the teams have matched up in the SEC Tournament since 1998 in Columbus, Ga. … Vanderbilt is 5-0 all-time against Ole Miss at neutral-site venues, including 4-0 in the SEC Tournament. Vanderbilt’s wins over Ole Miss in the SEC tourney have come in four cities: Athens, Ga.(1984), Albany, Ga. (1987), Chattanooga (1993 and 1995) and Columbus (1998). … Before losing to Ole Miss this season, Vanderbilt had won six straight against the Rebels. … Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb has gone 12-5 against Ole Miss during her tenure at VU. … The Commodores have gone 21-5 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 .
l Marqu’es at her best: For the second season in a row, Marqu’es Webb is putting together a fantastic finish. Over the past seven games, she has gone 24-of-37 (64.8 percent) from the floor, and is averaging 9.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in that stretch. She had 11 points, including going 9-of-10 from the foul line, and pulled down seven rebounds in last Sunday’s loss to Mississippi State. Webb also put together some amazing numbers down the stretch last season, shooting 68.2 percent — going 28-of-41 — during the final six games of the season. She averaged 12.3 points per game during that stretch, and reached double figures in five of the six games.
l Star Power: Sophomore sharpshooter Christa Reed is averaging a team-high 11.1 points per game and is shooting 42.3 percent from 3-point range. Reed has been leading the SEC and ranked among the NCAA’s top-10 in 3-point accuracy for much of the season but doesn’t currently meet the minimum requirement. … Point guard Minta Spears is seventh in the SEC in assists (4.1 apg) and seventh in the SEC in minutes played (32.5 mpg). … Junior Marque’s Webb is VU’s top rebounder at 5.6 per game. She is averaging 6.4 rebounds in SEC games. … Spears is No. 2 in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio in conference games at 1.7.
l Over the hump: Sunday’s win over Missouri was the Commodores’ 16th of the season, and enabled them to surpass their win total from last season, when they finished 15-16 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. Sunday’s win also allowed Vanderbilt to equal last year’s SEC win total, with the Commodores finishing 5-11 both seasons.
l Most recent VU-Ole Miss game: Playing the last-ever basketball at historic Tad Smith Coliseum, Ole Miss junior Erika Sisk converted a 3-point play with 1.5 seconds remaining to lift the Rebels to a 55-52 win over Vanderbilt in the SEC opener for both teams on Jan. 3. The defeat ended a 10-game winning streak for the Commodores (11-3, 0-1), who owned a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter and a five-point lead with 2:02 remaining but couldn’t hold on. Vanderbilt committed 26 turnovers in the loss, including two crucial miscues in the final 48 seconds. Sisk’s game-winning basket gave Ole Miss the lead for the first time since the opening minute of the game. Sisk finished with a game-high 18 points. Christa Reed scored 16 to lead the Commodores. Ole Miss outscored Vanderbilt 20-5 during the final 7:03 of the fourth quarter to rally for the win and close out Tad Smith Coliseum’s 50-year history in dramatic fashion.
l VU’s most recent game: Playing their regular-season finale on Sunday, the Commodores snapped an eight-game losing streak by stunning No. 24 Missouri, 56-52, in front of a lively crowd of 5,998 on Senior Day at Mizzou Arena. Christa Reed scored a game-high 20 points and point guard Minta Spears added 19, including converting two pivotal layups down the stretch that helped the Commodores earn their first win in February. With the game tied at 49-49, Spears fought her way through traffic and made a contested layup with 2:18 remaining to put Vanderbilt on top for good. Spears converted another layup at the 1:40 mark that pushed the lead to 53-50, and then hit a pair of game-clinching free throws with five seconds to play to cap her late-game heroics. Cierra Porter and Sophie Cunningham scored 11 points each to pace Missouri, which suffered only its third home loss of the season.For Vanderbilt, Reed finished 8-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Rebekah Dahlman added nine points for the Commodores, who went 9-of-19 from 3-point range.