Jan. 12, 2017
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
On campus in Nashville – Vanderbilt (10-7, 0-4 SEC) led by as many as 17 points in the second half, but Auburn (13-5, 3-1 SEC) wouldn’t give up in an SEC matchup on Thursday night. A key second-half comeback and a number of Commodore turnovers helped the Tigers escape Memorial Gym with a 64-59 victory. Let’s clean the glass from Vanderbilt’s loss:
THE SKINNY: Vanderbilt found itself in an early 5-0 hole nearly four minutes in, but it rallied to tie the game, 9-9, after hitting three of its first four 3-pointers. The Commodores then used a second-quarter run to carry a 32-24 lead into halftime despite 14 early turnovers. But Auburn turned things around in the second half with a key run in the third quarter, and it won the fourth period 22-10 to seal the win.
TURNING POINT: Auburn’s 12-0 run in the third quarter. Vanderbilt held a commanding 17-point lead midway through the third, but the Tigers’ rallied to cut the ‘Dores’ lead to 45-40 with 58 seconds left in the period. Auburn used that momentum to dominate the fourth quarter and hold Vanderbilt without a field goal for the final 3:49 of play.
IMPACT PLAYER: Auburn guard Brandy Montgomery. The senior brushed off a first half in which she shot 0-5 from the floor (and 0-3 on threes) to come alive late in the contest. In fact, Montgomery scored 14 of her 16 total points in the fourth quarter, helping to push her Auburn squad back from a double-digit deficit.
STARTLING STAT: 24 – Number of Vanderbilt turnovers. Auburn came in forcing 24.1 turnovers per game, third-most in nation, and it lived up to its disruptive billing. The Commodores coughed up 24 turnovers and allowed the Tigers to turn those mistakes into 24 points.
WHAT IT MEANS: Vanderbilt is now 0-4 in SEC play after a 10-2 start to the season.
QUOTABLE: “Knowing that we can win and knowing that we could’ve had the past four games, that honestly hurts me the most. I know we have that much potential. Every single person has to realize we have so much potential, but we don’t play like we do.” -freshman forward Kayla Overbeck
WHAT’S NEXT: Vanderbilt welcomes Missouri to Memorial Gym this Sunday, Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.