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Vanderbilt Defeats Montana In Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament 3/19/2005 SEATTLE (AP) — Montana was determined to take away the inside presence of Vanderbilt’s Ashley Earley. For a half, the Commodores’ Abi Ramsey made Montana pay for that strategy. Earley waited until the second half to take over. Ramsey scored all 13 of her points in the first half, and Earley scored 15 of her 21 in the second half as the fifth-seeded Commodores beat 12th-seeded Montana 67-44 Saturday night in a first-round NCAA tournament game. Vanderbilt (23-7) will face fourth-seeded Kansas State on Monday night in a second-round game in the Kansas City Regional. Since losing three straight in January, Vanderbilt has won 10 of its last 12 games, it’s only two losses coming to Tennessee. The Commodores lost to Tennessee 76-73 in the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals March 5. Vanderbilt started shaky, turning the ball over on its first four possessions. Once the Commodores settled down, they had too many weapons for the Lady Griz (22-8), jumping out to a 20-7 lead behind Ramsey’s shooting. The senior scored 11 of Vanderbilt’s first 18 points, and the Commodores never led by less than 10 points the final 32 minutes. Carla Thomas added nine points and nine rebounds for Vanderbilt. Earley also had nine rebounds. Montana, champs of the Big Sky Conference, could never shake its shooting woes, making just 19-of-50 shots. Conference co-player of the year Hollie Tyler was 3-for-17 from the field and finished with just six points, her second-lowest point total of the season. Lynsey Monaco led Montana with 10 points. With Vanderbilt up 31-20 at halftime, Earley began imposing herself on the inside. Tyler scored the first points of the second half, but Earley and Vanderbilt guard Dee Davis combined to score the next 13 points. The spurt gave the Commodores a 44-22 lead as Montana went scoreless for more than 6 minutes. |
