SEC Season Begins

Commodores host Auburn, travel to Florida to start SEC play

 
vs. Auburn Tigers (6-5, 0-0) at Florida Gators (9-4, 0-0)
Thursday, Jan. 2 • 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5 • 11 a.m. CT
Memorial Gymnasium (14,316) O’Connell Center (10,133)
Nashville, Tenn. Gainesville, Fla.
Watch: SEC Network/SECN+ Watch: ESPNU
Listen: TuneIn
Charlie Mattos (play-by-play)
Listen: TuneIn
Max Herz (play-by-play)
Live Stats: VandyStats.com Live Stats: VandyStats.com
Game Notes Game Notes

Battle Grounds
vs. Auburn
• Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with Auburn 28-22 including 13-9 at home.
• Auburn has won the last six games in the series. Five of those six have been decided by eight points or less, including the last two by a combined five points.
• Vanderbilt last defeated the Tigers on Jan. 9, 2014 (74-65 at Auburn) and last won at home in the series Feb. 28, 2013 (59-44).
• This is the first time Auburn and Vanderbilt will open SEC play against each other since Dec. 18, 1994 (Vandy won on the road 54-34).

at Florida
Vanderbilt holds a 33-25 edge in the series with the Gators, including a 13-12 mark in Gainesville, Florida.
• The Commodores have dropped four straight in the series and six of the last seven. Prior to that, Vandy had won nine of the last 10.
• Vanderbilt’s last win against the Gators was in overtime at Florida 76-75 on Feb. 19, 2015.

Full Steam Ahead
• Vanderbilt ranks No. 7 in the nation in rebounding (584) and No. 12 in the country with 44.9 rebounds per game.
• Vanderbilt has out-rebounded every opponent this year.
• Vandy is second in the SEC with 10.3 steals per game.
• Vanderbilt is 10-0 when holding opponents under 40 percent from the field (0-3 when not).
• The Commodores are 6-0 when they have fewer turnovers than their opponent.
• Vandy is 9-1 when shooting better than 40 percent and 10-1 when scoring more than 60 points.
• Vanderbilt is 4-0 on the weekends this year and 6-3 on school nights.
• Vanderbilt’s 10 non-conference wins matched the most in the Coach White era (also went 10-3 in 2016-17).
• Eight different players have started at least one game for the Commodores.
• Last season, Vanderbilt scored 80 points three times. The Commodores eclipsed 80 points three times and 100 points once in just the first six games this season. The 106-point outing at Tennessee State was the program’s first over the century mark since 2011 at Florida.

Court Martial
• Sophomore Jordyn Cambridge entered the week ranked No. 10 in the nation and second in the SEC in steals. She has 40 steals in 13 games this season after she totaled 20 steals in 24 games as a freshman last year.
• Cambridge was the first Commodore with seven steals in a game (Nov. 17 vs. Saint Louis) since Jennifer Risper on Nov. 23, 2008 against Michigan.
• In addition, Cambridge leads all Power Six players listed at 5’9” or shorter with eight blocks this season (she had two blocks last season). In addition, she leads the SEC in rebounding among players under 5’10” and has 5+ rebounds in eight of 12 games this season.

Plan of Attack
• Coach White’s halftime adjustments have been evident. Vanderbilt has won the third quarter in 11 of its 13 games. Excluding No. 4 UConn, the Commodores are +108 in the third quarter (256-148). That averages to an advantage of 21-12 every third quarter.

Home Port
• The Commodores are 7-1 at Memorial (5-9 last season) with its only loss to No. 4 UConn (62-50).
• Vanderbilt is 10-1 in games played in the USA this season.
• The Commodores did not leave the friendly confines of the Music City for their first six games. Vanderbilt opened the season with five straight home games and the first road contest of the season was at Tennessee State (Nov. 25).
• The first time the Commodores left Nashville this season was on a flight to the Bahamas. Vanderbilt played Rutgers and Seton Hall at the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, Nov. 28-29.
• The only other road contests for the Commodores in the nonconference season were in Seattle, Washington. Vanderbilt won the Husky Classic with wins over UC Irvine (Dec. 20) and host Washington (Dec. 21).

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.
• Vandy is the only program to sweep the awards this year.
• 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.
• Fasoula is 18th in the nation and second in the SEC with six double-doubles. Love has four this year.
• Love is second among SEC freshmen in points per game (12.9), rebounds (81) and field goal percentage (.535).

Preseason Polls
• Vanderbilt was picked to finish 14th in the preseason SEC media poll and predicted to finish 12th by the SEC coaches.

Alexander the Sophomore
• 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.
• In the season opener, Alexander (20 points, four steals) was the first Commodore in more than eight years to finish with 20+ points and 4+ steals in a game. The last Vanderbilt player to pull off the feat was Jence Rhoads when she went for 21 and 5 against Arkansas on March 4, 2010.

Looking Astern
• Sophomore Jordyn Cambridge recorded her first career double-double and led Vanderbilt to its fifth straight win. The Commodores controlled Columbia, 71-52, in a Sunday matinee at Memorial Gymnasium. Cambridge finished with 11 points and set career highs with 10 rebounds and five assists in addition to another three steals. Freshman Koi Love finished with a team-high 18 points, while junior Chelsie Hall added a season-high 17 points.

On Deck
• After road games at Florida (Jan. 5) and Georgia (Jan. 9), the Commodores return home to take on fifth-ranked South Carolina. It will be Pride Day at Memorial Gym with a Pride rally towel giveaway as well as Soles for Souls where fans can help lift people out of poverty by donating a pair of new or gently used shoes.

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