Feb. 19, 2017
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
On campus in Nashville – Vanderbilt women’s basketball closed out “Equality Weekend” on West End with a nice victory over an SEC opponent. The Commodores (13-14, 3-11) survived an up-and-down contest and managed to hold off the Rebels (16-11, 5-9), 85-67, on Sunday at Memorial Gym.
Let’s clean the glass from Vanderbilt’s performance:
THE SKINNY: Vanderbilt fought to a 17-17 tie at the end of a first quarter in which it committed six turnovers. The Commodores cleaned up their act in the second quarter, using a commanding 26-2 run to take a 37-18 lead with 5:14 until intermission. But Ole Miss wasn’t finished and hit 12 of its 22 shots in the third period, chipping Vanderbilt’s lead to 58-56 entering the final 10 minutes. Vanderbilt had the last word, however, using a key run at the beginning of the fourth – and knocking down late free throws – to seal a win at Memorial.
TURNING POINT: Despite holding a double-digit lead at halftime, Vanderbilt allowed Ole Miss to rally to within two points, 58-56, at the end of the third quarter. But the Commodores came out firing at the beginning of the final period. They reeled off an 8-0 run – capped by an Erin Whalen 3-pointer – that forced an Rebels’ timeout and pushed the ‘Dores ahead, 66-56. Ole Miss ran out of steam from that point on.
IMPACT PLAYER: Erin Whalen. The true freshman from Charlotte, N.C. notched a career-high 24 points on 8-12 shooting against Ole Miss. Her 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter put a bow on a Vanderbilt run that put the ‘Dores in control of the game. In fact, Whalen led a strong day for Commodore true freshmen, joining LeaLea Carter, Kaleigh Clemons-Green and Kayla Overbeck in accounting for 63 of Vanderbilt’s 85 total points.
STARTLING STAT: 41 – Vanderbilt free throw attempts. The Commodores set a season-high in attempts from the line, knocking down 34 of those shots (83 percent). That performance from the charity-stripe was a result of a physical day on the floor; Ole Miss committed 34 total fouls and fouled out four players. But Vanderbilt made the Rebels pay at the free-throw line late in the game.
WHAT IT MEANS: The Commodores have now won two of three games following a three-game skid. Vanderbilt’s lone loss in its last three games was on the road at No. 2 South Carolina.
QUOTABLE: “I think in every game, Erin has gotten better. She didn’t shoot the ball particularly well at South Carolina, then she was in gym all weekend shooting. That’s what great players do. They understand when they’ve been off, they get in the gym and try to correct it.” –Vanderbilt head coach Stephanie White on freshman Erin Whalen’s career-high 24 points
WHAT’S NEXT: Vanderbilt welcomes Arkansas to Memorial Gym on Thursday, Feb. 23. The Commodores and Razorbacks tip off at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.