Commodores Fall on the Road at Central Michigan

Nov. 14, 2017

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PLEASANT, Mich. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team (0-2) dropped its road opener to Central Michigan (1-1) on Tuesday, falling 92-75 to the Chippewa’s. Senior guard Rachel Bell led the Vanderbilt offense with 15 points and she was joined in double figures by freshman Chelsie Hall, who added 11 points for her first career game in double figures and Cierra Walker who also added 11.

The Skinny
Date: Nov. 14, 2017
Time: 6 PM CT
Place: Mt. Pleasant, Michigan (McGuirk Arena)
Records: Vanderbilt (0-2), Central Michigan (1-1)

At The Top of the Charts
Points: Rachel Bell – 15 pts
Rebounds: Autumn Newby – 8 rebs
Assists: Cierra Walker – 5 assts
Steals: Kayla Overbeck/Cierra Walker – 2 stls

How It Happened
First Quarter: Central Michigan 29, Vanderbilt 16
After three-pointers from both teams on their opening possessions, Central Michigan used a 5-0 spurt to pull ahead forcing White to call a timeout early. The Chippewa’s used a 9-0 run to pull head 12-6 before a trey from Rachel Bell stopped the run but the home team shot 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from long range and had two players in double figures to take a 13-point lead at the end of the first frame.

Second Quarter: Central Michigan 47, Vanderbilt 33
The Commodores seemed to settle into the game in the second quarter and was helped by the interior play of Kayla Overbeck who had Vanderbilt’s first four points of the quarter but turnovers plagued the Commodores as they had 14 through the first half and Central Michigan capitalized to the tune of eight points. The Commodores got as close as 12 points and played the Chippewa’s nearly even in the quarter but couldn’t overcome their first-quarter deficit. Overbeck, who came off the bench, was a bright spot as she had seven points in the quarter. The visitors settled in on defense and while the Chippewa’s shot 62.5 percent in the first quarter, the Dores held them to just 26.3 percent in the second frame.

Third Quarter: Central Michigan 67, Vanderbilt 53
Central Michigan opened the quarter on a 10-2 run and pushed their lead to 24 points with just three minutes off the game clock forcing white to call a timeout to stop the Chippewa momentum. With the home team leading 62-37, Vanderbilt went on an 8-0 run sparked by a Rachel Bell triple forcing Central Michigan to call a timeout. Vanderbilt extended the run to 12 consecutive points before a pair of free throws from the home team stopped the run but not before Vanderbilt cut the lead to 11 points right before the end of the quarter.

Fourth Quarter: Central Michigan 92, Vanderbilt 75
After a pretty slow start to the quarter, the Dores were able to get the once 19-point fourth quarter lead down to 10 points with 3:32 remaining but that was as close as they would get. Birthday girl, Erin Whalen had a good second half, scoring nine second-half points after being held scoreless in the first half. Cierra Walker also had a good second half with eight points in the half of action.

Inside the Lane
-Today’s game was the first-ever meeting between Vanderbilt and Central Michigan and the first meeting between Vanderbilt and a team from the MAC since a win over Ohio in 2014-15. This season Vanderbilt will face Central Michigan and Ball State out of the MAC.

-Today was Erin Whalen‘s birthday. The Charlotte, NC native scored nine points and had four rebounds on her birthday.

-Chelsie Hall set a career-high with 11 points

Autumn Newby‘s eight rebounds are the most for a Commodore this season

-Rachel Bell and Christa Reed each moved closer to the 1,000-point club. Bell moves 152 points away while Reed is 247 points away after today’s game.

-Freshman Autumn Newby made her collegiate debut against the Chippewa’s and appeared in the starting lineup. The Georgia native scored six points and had a team-best eight rebounds.

-Vanderbilt used it second lineup in as many games against the Chippewa’s with two freshman getting the nod in Autumn Newby and Chelsie Hall.

Stat of the Game
After shooting 40.7 percent in the first half, the Commodores made some halftime adjustments and shot 51.5 percent in the second half.

Up Next
The Commodores will stay on the road for its next contest, traveling to the Big Easy to take on Tulane on Friday Nov. 17. Tipoff is set for 12 pm

Next Five Games
Nov. 17 – at Tulane, 12 PM
Nov. 20 – vs. Ball State, 12 PM
Nov. 23 – at George Washington, 12:30 PM^
Nov. 24 – vs. Syracuse, 2:30 PM^
Nov. 25- vs. Wisconsin, 12:00 PM^

^- Paradise Jam (Washington, D.C.)
All game times CENTRAL

Keep Up with the Commodores
For more information on the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team check them out on the website at www.vucommodores.com , Twitter at @VandyWBB., Instagram at @VandyWBB and on Facebook at Vandy Hoops.