Feb. 19, 2009
No. 18 Vanderbilt 73 – No. 3 Auburn 70
February 19, 2009 – Memorial Gym
Attendance: 5,295
– Vanderbilt started forwards Christina Wirth and Hannah Tuomi and guards Jence Rhoads, Meredith Marsh, and Jennifer Risper
– Risper, Wirth, Tuomi and Marsh have started in all 27 games this season, while Rhoads made her 14th start of the year. Wirth leads the team with 110 career starts while Risper has 78 career starts. Marsh made her 55th career start while Tuomi made the 48th start of her career.
– Vanderbilt enters tonight’s game with a three game winning streak. The `Dores last three wins came against Georgia, No. 9 Florida and Kentucky.
First Half Notes: Vanderbilt 40 – Auburn 24
– Auburn won the opening tip
– Trailing 3-0 at the 19:45 mark, Vanderbilt went on an 10-1 run to take an 10-4 lead with 15:30 remaining in the first half. Jence Rhoads and Christina Wirth each scored four points during the run.
– With Vanderbilt leading 12-8 at the 13:00 minute mark in the first half, the `Dores went on a 18-6 run, taking a 30-14 lead with 7:25 remaining in the half. Jessica Mooney was the key spark during the VU as she was able to penetrate the Tiger defense and get to the basket.
– Vanderbilt was 17-of-28 (60.7%) from the field in the first half while Auburn was just 9-of-29 (31.0%).
– Vanderbilt outscored Auburn 28-14 in the paint during the first half
– Jence Rhoads led all scores at the half with 12 points. Rhoads 12 points ties her career high. Mooney and Risper scored eight first-half points while Wirth chipped in six.
– Vanderbilt outscored Auburn 10-2 in fast break points in the opening stanza.
– Vanderbilt tallied 12 bench points in the first half while Auburn had four bench points. Mooney had eight of VU’s 12 bench points, connecting on 4-of-4 field goals.
– VU largest lead of the first-half came at the 7:24 mark when they lead by 18 points (30-18). Auburn only lead of the game came at the 19:45 mark when they led 3-0 after DeWanna Bonner’s three-pointer in the first possession of the game.
Postgame Notes:
– With the win, Vanderbilt improves to 21-6 and 10-2 in the SEC. The loss drops Auburn to 25-2 overall and 10-2 in the SEC. Vanderbilt is now tied for the lead in the SEC with Auburn, however the Commodores hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tigers with their win tonight.
– The Commodores have now won 14 straight over Auburn, dating back to the 2000-01 season. Vanderbilt now leads the all-time series with Auburn 21-16.
– The win over No. 3 Auburn is Vanderbilt biggest win over a ranked opponent since it defeated No. 2 Tennessee 76-59 in Memorial Gym on Feb. 2, 2002. The win over the third-ranked Tigers is known to be the second highest-ranked team VU has ever defeated (Def. No. 2 Tennessee 76-59 on 2/22/2002).
– Vanderbilt is now 3-1 against ranked teams this season (defeated No. 7/11 Tennessee, No. 9/11 Florida and No. 3 Auburn)
– Vanderbilt finishes the season 15-1 at home season, including a perfect 7-0 against SEC opponents.
– Vanderbilt win over Auburn gives the program its fifth 10-win SEC season in the last eight years. With one more win Vanderbilt will tie the school record for SEC wins in a season (11, which was set last season)
– Vanderbilt had three players score in double figures; Rhoads (16), Wirth (14) and Risper (14).
– Vanderbilt finished the game 28-of-50 (56.0%) from the field while Auburn was 30-of-64 (46.9%)
– Each team pulled down 30 rebounds. Vanderbilt improves to 14-3 when outrebounding/tying its opponent.
– Vanderbilt made 15-of-20 free throws in the game while Auburn was 6-of-10.
– Auburn scored 20 points off of VU turnovers while Vanderbilt scored six off Auburn’s miscues.
– The game was never tied and there was only one lead change.
– Auburn was led by Sherell Hobbs’ game-high 19 points.
Individual Notes:
– Jence Rhoads 16-points marks a career high. Her previous high was 12 points against Georgia on Jan. 22, 2008. Rhoads also set career highs in field goals made (7) and FG attempts (10). Four of Rhoads five career double figure scoring games have come this season.
– Risper tied a career high with eight made free throws.
– Wirth has now scored in double figures in 22 of 27 games this season. She has 74 double figure games in her career.
– Risper tallied her ninth double figure game of the season and 29th of her career.
