Nov. 19, 2016
Teams: Vanderbilt (2-1) vs. Duke (4-0)
Day, Date: Sunday, Nov. 20
Tip-off time: 2 p.m. (CT)
Site: Memorial Gym / Nashville, Tenn.
Radio: WNSR 560 AM / 95.9 FM
TV: SECN+ (Online: ESPN3. Link: HERE)
Game Notes: Vanderbilt Game Notes (Duke) 
l Duke Game Notes (vs. VU)
Looking to build on the momentum they gained with a hard-fought win over Drexel, the Vanderbilt women host Duke on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Memorial Gym. Duke will carry a 4-0 record into the contest, and the Devils are receiving votes in both the AP and USA Today polls. Here’s a closer look at Sunday’s game:
l Update on the Commodores: Fueled by Rebekah Dahlman’s career-high 25 points, Vanderbilt fought off Drexel, 73-63, on Wednesday night at Memorial Gym. The victory enabled the Commodores (2-1) to rebound in strong style from their lopsided loss to Indiana last Sunday, when they fell to the No. 23-ranked Hoosiers 94-61. … Dahlman is leading VU and ranked ninth in the SEC in scoring at 16.0 points per game. She is also tied for eighth in assists at 4.0 per game. … Marqu’es Webb has averaged eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds per game. Webb has reached double-figures in rebounding in all three of Vanderbilt’s games, and ranks fifth in the conference in rpg. … Freshman Cierra Walker ranks fifth in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio, having delivered 10 assists with only one turnover.
l What’s trending: The Commodores are shooting 43.1 percent from 3-point range in the first two games, including going 14-of-26 against Kennesaw State in the season opener. The 14 3-pointers against KSU are the most by an SEC team this season. … Redshirt junior Rebekah Dahlman is putting together some incredible numbers through the first three games, including shooting 80 percent (8-of-10) from 3-point range, 87 percent from the foul line and 71 percent from the floor. … Vanderbilt is ranked No. 23 in the nation and third in the SEC in 3-point accuracy (43.1). … The Commodores are ranked 24th in the nation and No. 1 in the SEC in free throw percentage (79.7). … Entering the weekend, Dahlman was ranked sixth among active players in the SEC in career 3-pointers with 109, and Rachel Bell was ranked 10th in that same category with 73. … Senior forward Marqu’es Webb was ranked ninth among active players in the SEC in career rebounds (434).
l The lowdown on Duke: The Devils have roared out of the gate with four straight wins that have featured an average margin of victory of 43.2 points. Duke opened the season with a 60-point road win over Liberty, and followed that with home victories over Penn, Longwood and Grand Canyon. … Rebecca Greenwell’s 22.5 points per game average currently ranks second in the ACC and ranks 33rd nationally entering the weekend. Her 90 points also ranks tied first nationally along with Kelsey Plum of Washington. … As a team, Duke leads the nation with 69 free throws made, 80 assists, 190 rebounds and 63 steals. The Blue Devils are second with 95 free throw attempts. … In four games, the Blue Devils are averaging 20.0 assists a contest. Duke is coming off averaging only 13.8 assists in 2015-16. … Duke has averaged 50.0 points in the paint to open the season.
l Series History: Sunday’s game will be the eighth all-time meeting between the Commodores and Devils, with Duke owning a 5-2 lead in the series. … The most recent game between the teams was Nov. 21, 2013, when the Blue Devils defeated Vanderbilt 88-69 in Durham. … The teams last faced each other at Memorial Gym on March 20, 2011, when Duke posted a 96-80 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. … Vanderbilt is 1-1 all-time against Duke in Nashville, with the victory coming during the 2007-08 season. … The series dates back to the 1981-82 season, when Vanderbilt beat Duke, 75-57, in Johnson City, Tenn.
l Joy-ous occasion: Vanderbilt assistant coach Joy Cheek will be coaching against her alma mater on Sunday. Cheek was a four-year letterwinner for the Devils from 2007-2010 and scored more than 1,000 career points. She played in 137 contests and averaged 8.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals. … Cheek, a native of Charlotte, N.C., performed an internship in the Office of the Vice President and Economic Policy at the White House in the summer of 2009.
l New leader: Stephanie White is in her first season with the Commodores after being named head coach on May 24. Becoming just the fifth head coach in the program’s history, White replaced former head coach Melanie Balcomb, who resigned in April after 14 seasons with the team. White came to Vanderbilt after spending two seasons as head coach of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. She led the team to the playoffs each season, including guiding the Fever to the 2015 WNBA Finals in her rookie season to become the first rookie coach in league history to take a team to the finals. During her playing career, she was a standout at Purdue, where she earned national player of the year honors after helping lead the Boilermakers to the 1999 NCAA championship. Her coach that season was Carolyn Peck, who now the associate coach on White’s staff at Vanderbilt.
l Charting the freshman: Vanderbilt’s touted freshmen class has already made an impact. The five-member group — LeaLea Carter, Erin Whalen, Kayla Overbeck, Cierra Walker and Kaleigh Clemons-Green — has combined for an average of 29.7 points and 12.7 rebounds in the Commodores’ first three contests. Thus far, the scoring has been balanced among the group: Overbeck is averaging 7.7 ppg, Walker 6.3, Whalen 6.0, Carter 5.0 and Clemons 4.7.
l Mad success at Memorial: Vanderbilt has posted a 47-3 against non-conference foes at Memorial Gym since the start of the 2010-11 campaign, and enter Sunday’s game having won 11 straight non-conference home games … Dating back to the start of the 2002-03 season, VU owns a 97-8 record on its home floor in regular-season, non-conference games, including 8-0 last season. The Commodores have gone 16-1 against non-conference opponents at home since the start of the 2014-15 season.
l Signing Day: Comprising the inaugural signing class of Vanderbilt first-year head coach Stephanie White, a pair of highly-rated recruits — Autumn Newby and Chelsie Hall — signed National Letters of Intent with the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team on Nov. 8. Newby is a 6-2 forward from Archer High in Lawrenceville, Ga., who averaged 12.7 points and 12.6 rebounds per game last season. Hall is a 5-7 point guard from Seffner Christian Academy in Tampa, Fla., who averaged 21.2 points per game last year. Together, the two players form a signing class that was ranked No. 23 in the nation by BlueStar Report on Wednesday. (Newby was ranked by BlueStar as the No. 20 overall prospect and Hall was ranked No. 28).
l Looking ahead: Vanderbilt is back at Memorial Gym on Tuesday, hosting Robert Morris at 11:30 a.m. for the annual Education Day game.
