NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team closed out its three-game homestand with an 85-62 loss to No. 13/12 LSU on Thursday.
Junior Iyana Moore extended her double-digit scoring streak to a season-long six games, as the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native tallied a game-high 17 points against the defending national champions. Freshman Khamil Pierre collected her third double-double of the season, as she registered 13 points and a team-best 11 rebounds in her second career start.
The Commodores collected 13 steals on the night, as graduate student Jordyn Cambridge tallied a team-high five steals. Cambridge is now 17 steals away from breaking Deborah Denton’s program record of 338. The Nashville, Tennessee, native also dished out a game-high six assists to go along with seven points.
The loss extends Vanderbilt’s losing streak to five games. The Commodores are now 17-7 overall this season, while Vandy falls to 4-6 in SEC play.
Vanderbilt shot 31.3 percent from the floor against LSU, while the Tigers connected on 43.8 percent of their shots. The Commodores outshot LSU from behind the arc, as the Dores drilled six 3-pointers while holding the Tigers to two 3-point field goals. Vanderbilt also outscored the No. 13/12-ranked team in the nation in points off the bench, 19-17.
How It Happened
LSU jumped out to a 16-2 lead to open the game. Vanderbilt could not erase its double-digit deficit for the remainder of the first quarter, as the Tigers held a 22-7 advantage going into the second stanza. LSU maintained a double-digit lead for the entirety of the second stanza, as the Commodores trailed 39-20 at the halftime break.
Vanderbilt came out of the locker room swinging. The Commodores sank three 3-pointers during the first six minutes of the third quarter to pull within 12 points of the Tigers at 51-39. Vanderbilt held LSU without a field goal for over four minutes in the third quarter, but the Tigers got back-to-back buckets to close out the stanza and pushed Vandy’s deficit back out to 18 at 58-40.
LSU maintained its double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest, as the Tigers led by as many as 26 points before walking out of Memorial Gymnasium with an 85-62 victory.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“We just missed a lot of wide-open shots early on. If you look at it quarter-by-quarter, we couldn’t really overcome that 22-7 deficit to begin the game. We were missing wide-open shots and that let the wind out of our sails. We played a lot of different lineups today, and I was happy that we were able to get some contributions from other people. I’m just not happy with the outcome of the game. I don’t feel like the score tells the whole story because outside of that first quarter, we were pretty competitive. I felt like there were times in the second half we had momentum and went toe-to-toe with them. That’s the team that I know.”
Up Next
The Dores will now hit the road, as the Commodores travel to Georgia Sunday to take on the Bulldogs. Tipoff from Stegeman Coliseum is set for 11 a.m. CT and will air live on SEC Network.
Dore Notes
- Junior Iyana Moore extended her double-digit scoring streak to a season-high six games with a 17-point performance.
- Moore is averaging 15.8 ppg during her current double-digit scoring streak
- Moore finished with a game-high tying 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal. It is the third straight game she has led Vandy in scoring, while she has now led the Commodores in points scored in four of the last five games
- Freshman Khamil Pierre registered the third double-double of her career, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds
- Pierre finished with seven defensive rebounds, marking the third time this season with at least seven defensive boards
- Graduate student Jordyn Cambridge added five steals in tonight’s game, bringing her season total to 88 steals. Cambridge has 322 career steals, just 17 steals away from tying the program record held by Deborah Denton (1986-89) who had 338 career steals
- Cambridge dished a game-high six assists, marking the eighth game this season with at least six assists, third in conference play
- Vanderbilt finished with five blocks, marking the eighth game this season, third in conference, with at least five blocks
- Vanderbilt outscored LSU 20-19 in the third frame, holding LSU just 2-of-11 to close the third quarter
- Vanderbilt held LSU to just nine assists, marking a season-low for LSU
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