Ready for the Rebels

Commodores host annual Pink Game, Ole Miss on Sunday

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Vanderbilt Commodores (12-10, 2-7 SEC) vs. Ole Miss Rebels (7-15, 0-9 SEC)
Sunday, Feb. 9 • 4 p.m.
Memorial Gymnasium (14,316)
Nashville, Tenn.
Watch: SEC Network
Brenda VanLengen (play-by-play), Andraya Carter (analyst)
Listen: TuneIn
Charlie Mattos (play-by-play)
Live Stats: VandyStats.com
Tickets
Game Notes

Promotions
• Vanderbilt’s annual Pink Game to raise Breast Cancer Awareness.
• If you are a breast cancer survivor, Vanderbilt would like to offer free tickets and a game day experience to Sunday’s game. Sign up is here.
• Free Pink Game t-shirt for the first 1,000 fans.
• America’s Got Talent winner The Olate Dogs will perform at halftime

Battle Grounds
• Vanderbilt holds a 34-17 all-time advantage in the series that dates back to an 84-65 Ole Miss victory in Nashville during the 1977-78 season.
• Ole Miss won the first three matchups in Nashville, but Vanderbilt has won 19 in a row at home against the Rebels. The last time Ole Miss won at Memorial Gym was a 77-73 victory on Jan. 8, 1987­. Only once since 2001 have the Rebels been within single digits of the Commodores in the Music City (58-54 in 2015).
• Ole Miss won the most recent matchup—65-60 on Valentine’s Day in Oxford last year—but Vanderbilt has won four of the last five overall and 10 of the last 12.

Looking Astern
• It was a one possession game in the final minute, but Auburn hit key free throws down the stretch to outlast Vanderbilt women’s basketball 70-62 last Sunday afternoon at Auburn Arena.
• Vanderbilt was led by freshman Koi Love who matched a career-high with 22 points and finished with her fifth double-double (11 rebounds).
• Fifth-year senior Mariella Fasoula finished with 17 points, junior Chelsie Hall scored 11, and sophomore Jordyn Cambridge finished with a career-high eight assists and added four steals to her SEC-leading total.

Full Steam Ahead
• Vanderbilt ranks No. 17 in the nation in total rebounds.
• Vanderbilt has out-rebounded 17 of its 22 opponents.
• Vanderbilt is 12-1 when holding opponents under 40 percent from the field (0-9 when not).
• Vandy is 11-3 when shooting better than 40 percent.
• Vandy is 10-0 when scoring more than 70 points this season (2-10 when scoring 69 or fewer).
• Vanderbilt is 4-1 on the weekends this year and 8-9 on school nights.
• Eight different players have started at least one game for the Commodores.
• Vanderbilt’s 10 nonconference wins matched the most in the Coach Stephanie White era (also went 10-3 in 2016-17).
• Vanderbilt’s win at Washington was its first Pac-12 road win since 2012 at USC.
• Vandy matched last season’s win total (7) by Dec. 15 and last season’s SEC win total by Jan. 9.

Plan of Attack
Coach White’s halftime adjustments have been evident. Vanderbilt has won the third quarter 14 times this year. Excluding games against five Top 25 opponents, the Commodores are +100 in the third quarter (334-234).

Court Martial
• Sophomore Jordyn Cambridge enters the weekend ranked No. 13 in the nation and first in the SEC in steals. She has 66 steals in 22 games this season after she totaled 20 steals in 24 games as a freshman last year.
• Cambridge’s average of 3.0 steals per game is currently the highest average for a Commodore since Deborah Denton averaged 3.2 in 1988-89.
• Cambridge is the first Commodore with 60 steals in a season since Jennifer Risper stole 81 in 2008-09.
• Cambridge was the first Commodore with seven steals in a game (Nov. 17 vs. Saint Louis) since Risper on Nov. 23, 2008 against Michigan.
• Cambridge is second among major conference players listed at 5-foot-9 or shorter with 12 blocks this season. She is tops among those SEC players with 116 rebounds (only SEC player over 100), and averages 5.3 per game (42 rebounds and 1.8 per game last season).
• Cambridge is just the third Commodore since 2000 with 60+ steals, 70+ assists, 100+ rebounds and 10+ blocks in a season, joining Chavonne Hammond (1999-00) and Ashley Earley (2004-05).

In the Community
• This year’s squad has placed an emphasis on volunteering in the local Nashville community. Each team member must complete 10 hours of community service this season. Those hours do not include team mandated community events.
• Among some of the team volunteering events, the Commodores spent an afternoon at the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Nashville where they helped stock shelves and move furniture. They also volunteered on Halloween at Vanderbilt’s Trick or Treat with the Greeks where they handed out candy and provided Nashville communities and children a fun, safe space for Halloween.
• The Commodores also sponsor, Gabee, 14, who suffers from craniostynosis, and are raising money for her and the Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

SEC Sweep
On Dec. 23, Vanderbilt swept the SEC weekly awards. It was the first Commodores sweep since Christina Foggie (player) and Kady Schrann (freshman) on Jan. 23, 2012.
• Mariella Fasoula was Vanderbilt’s first SEC Player of the Week since Jasmine Lister in 2014.
• Koi Love became the first Vanderbilt player to win back-to-back SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
• Vandy is the only program to sweep the awards this year.
• Love is second among SEC freshmen in points per game (13.9), field goal percentage (.486) and rebounds (140).

Sick Bay
• Sophomore Brinae Alexander scored in double figures in her first six games this season and was Vanderbilt’s leading scorer before her season-ending achilles injury in the first quarter on Thanksgiving Day against Rutgers at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas.
• Between Golden (17), Alexander (15), Pearl (4), Carter (4), Newby (3) and Gordon (3), the Commodores have a combined 46 missed games due to injury this season.

A Vandy Win Would…
… mark the 20th straight home win over Ole Miss.
… eclipse last season’s SEC win total.
… be the ninth at home this season, matching the last two seasons combined.

A Vandy Loss Would…
… mark the seventh straight and eighth in the last nine games.
… be the fifth in a row at home.
… be less good than a win.

On Deck
• Vanderbilt plays four of the next five on the road, including three against teams currently in the top 25.
• Next week, the Commodores play at Texas A&M at 8 p.m. Thursday, and then head to South Carolina to play the top-ranked Gamecocks in Monday night’s the SEC Game of the Week (6 p.m. CT).
• Vanderbilt returns home Feb. 20 to take on Missouri. Tickets are here.

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