Star Gazing: The week ahead for the Commodores

Dec. 30, 2013

UPDATE ON THE DORES
RECORD: 10-2
CURRENT STREAK: Won seven straight
NEXT GAME: at UAB, Dec. 30, 7 p.m.

SEC AWAITS
Monday night’s game against UAB is Vanderbilt’s final non-conference contest of the season and is the Commodores’ final tuneup for SEC play.

Vanderbilt will be tested quickly after they enter conference action. They host No. 19/18 Georgia on Jan. 2, followed by tough road assignments at No. 13/12 South Carolina (Jan. 5) and Auburn (Jan. 9).

NEXT HOME GAME
Returning to Memorial Gym for their first game in roughly two weeks, the Commodores host No. 19/18 Georgia on Jan. 2 in the SEC opener.

The game will be televised by CSS, with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m.It will be Vanderbilt’s first home game since downing UNC Asheville, 83-57, on Dec. 21.

Georgia defeated Vanderbilt, 55-50, last season in Athens in the regular-season finale for both teams on March 3.

HEATED ACTION AT HALFTIME
Fans will want to keep their seats at halftime during the UGA game, as two teams from the Nashville Wheelchair Basketball Association will square off.

FOGGIE IS A FORCE
Vanderbilt senior Christina Foggie continues to shine for the Commodores. She entered Monday’s game averaging an SEC-leading 18 points per game, and ranks among the SEC leaders in 3-pointers per game (2.8).

Foggie has made 266 three-pointers in her career, and ranks fifth on Vanderbilt’s all-time list in that category. With 38 three-pointers this season, she is on pace to challenge Vanderbilt’s single-season record of 91 set by Caroline Williams during the 2005-06 season.

SMITH ON A ROLL
Vanderbilt freshman Kylee Smith has developed into a consistent source of offense for the Commodores. She has reached double figures in four of the past six games, averaging 10 points per game in that stretch.

She scored a career-high 17 points in Vanderbilt’s most recent game — an 83-57 victory over UNC Asheville on Dec. 21.

GAME TIME CHANGE
The tipoff time for Vanderbilt’s game against Tennessee at Memorial Gym on Jan. 12 has been pushed back one hour — from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. — and the game will now be televised by ESPN. (It was originally scheduled to be aired on ESPN2).

It will be Vanderbilt’s first game on ESPN since appearing on ESPN’s College Gameday on Jan. 15, 2011 in Knoxville.

DAHLMAN REMAINS SIDELINED
Vanderbilt is still without the services of freshman guard Rebekah Dahlman, who is out indefinitely after undergoing two procedures to dissolve a blood clot earlier this month.

Dahlman was in the starting lineup for each of Vanderbilt’s first nine games and was leading the SEC in 3-point percentage before being sidelined.

DECEMBER DYNASTY
Having gone 4-0 thus far this month, the Commodores have now won 12 straight December games, a streak that dates back to the 2011-12 season.

Vanderbilt went 6-0 in the month of December last season, and hasn’t lost in the final month of the year since dropping a 66-59 decision to NC State on Dec. 18, 2011.