Dec. 27, 2014
Teams: Vanderbilt (7-4) vs. RV/No. 24 James Madison (9-1)
Day, Date: Monday, Dec. 29
Tip-off time: 7 p.m. (CT)
Site: Memorial Gym (Nashville, Tenn.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
Viewing: SEC Network Plus (online)
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased by calling 615-322-GOLD, visiting the McGugin Center ticket office or logging on to vucommodores.com.
Returning from the Christmas break, the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team takes the floor on Monday to host RV/No. 24 James Madison in a contest that features two NCAA Tournament teams from last year. The Commodores (7-4) will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak, but they will have a difficult assignment against a highly-talented JMU squad that has stormed out to a 9-1 start. The James Madison roster features one of the nation’s top players, Precious Hall, who ranks No. 4 in the country in scoring at 24.5 ppg. James Madison will be looking to gain a measure of revenge on the Commodores, who handed the Dukes their only home loss of the season last year. (More on that game at the bottom of the page). Monday’s game will be the final tune-up for the Commodores before they open SEC play. Here are a few storylines surrounding the contest:
l HOPING FOR A HEALTHY NEW YEAR. It is no secret what the Commodores wished for during the holidays — a healthy roster. After enduring a wave of injuries over the past month, the Commodores have been shorthanded for several recent games. Sophomore star Marqu’es Webb has missed four consecutive games and freshman post player Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau has missed three straight. Also, Audrey-Ann’s twin sister, Khalèann, has been sidelined all season with an ankle injury. The health issues have limited the Commodores’ substitution patterns, which was evident during Vanderbilt’s home loss to Dayton on Dec. 21. In that game, which was the Commodores’ final contest before the Christmas break, four Vanderbilt players — Kristen Gaffney, Heather Bowe, Rachel Bell and Morgan Batey — each logged at least 32 minutes of playing time.
l BOXING OUT: The Commodores are doing some impressive work on the glass this season. They’ve out-rebounded their opponents in nine of their first 10 games — with the Marquette game being the only exception — and have pulled down a total of 103 more rebounds than their opponents (435-332). Vanderbilt’s average rebounding margin is +9.3 per game, and the Commodores have out-rebounded their opponents by a double-digit margin in six games.
l JAMES MADISON’S SEASON TO DATE. To put it in a nutshell, the Dukes are dealing this year. They’ll arrive at Memorial Gym on Monday riding a five-game winning streak that has included victories over Hampton, Ohio, Davidson, Richmond and Houston. … The Dukes only loss this season was an 80-64 setback against Maryland on Nov. 28 in the opening round of the San Juan Shootout. … James Madison opened the season with four straight wins, beginning with an overtime victory against UCLA in the season opener, followed by wins over St. Bonaventure, American University and Pittsburgh. … The Dukes are averaging 77 points per game while surrendering just 63.9. … JMU is limiting opponents to just 28 percent shooting from 3-point range.
l SCOUTING THE DUKES. The JMU roster features one of the most explosive players in the country, Precious Hall. The 5-9 junior guard is averaging 24.5 points per game — the fourth highest scoring average in the nation (through Dec. 27) — and she has led the team in scoring in nine games this season, including the past seven. She scored a season-high 34 points in a win over Pittsburgh on Nov. 23, and has scored 20 or more points in each of the past seven games. … JMU’s Lauren Okafor is another star player for the Dukes. The 6-3 senior center is averaging 12.4 points per game and a team-high 12.2 rebounds per contest. She is shooting 52 percent from the floor. … Angela Mickens leads the team in assists by a wide margin with 73 for the season. (Hall ranks second on the team with 27).
l SIZING UP THE SERIES. Monday’s game marks the seventh all-time match-up between the Commodores and the Dukes, with Vanderbilt owning a 5-1 lead in the series, including a 2-0 advantage in games played in Nashville … The most recent contest in the series was last season, when Vanderbilt beat the Dukes in overtime, 89-85, at JMU’s Convocation Center. It was the Dukes’ only home loss of the season. … The series dates back to the 1986-87 season, when James Madison beat Vanderbilt, 68-60, on a neutral court in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Fayetteville, N.C. … Vanderbilt has won five straight against JMU since that game, including three wins in Harrisonburg and two wins at Memorial Gym. … The most recent meeting in Nashville was a 90-44 Vanderbilt victory during the 2001-02 season. … Last year’s game between VU and JMU was the only time that VU head coach Melanie Balcomb has faced James Madison during her tenure with the Commodores.
l LOOKING BACK. In last season’s matchup between the Commodores and the Dukes on Dec. 18, Vanderbilt’s Marqu’es Webb had a breakout game, scoring a season-high 15 points before fouling out. Webb finished 6-of-9 from the floor. … Former Vanderbilt star Christina Foggie scored a game-high 29 points, including knocking down a pivotal 3-pointer in overtime that sparked VU’s 11-4 game-ending run. Foggie finished 9-of-22 from the floor, including 5-of-12 from 3-point range. … Former Vanderbilt standout Jasmine Lister added 16 points, highlighted by a game-tying 3-pointer late in regulation. … Lister and Foggie both played all 45 minutes during the contest. … James Madison was led in scoring by Toia Giggetts’ 25 points. … The Commodores finished 23-of-30 (76.7 percent) at the foul line, doing their best work at the beginning and end of the game. They went 11-for-11 from the line in the first half, and were 7-of-10 in overtime.
l BOWE HASN’T MISSED A BEAT After missing the first few weeks of the season, Vanderbilt junior Heather Bowe has made an impressive return for the Commodores, averaging 12.7 points in her first three games. The junior post player, who did not see action in VU’s first seven games while serving a suspension for violation of academic policy, is shooting 50 percent from the floor (15-of-30) and 80 percent from the foul line (8-of-10) since her return. She has led the team in scoring in two of the past three games — scoring 15 in her first game back on Dec. 14 against Elon and scoring 15 against Dayton on Dec. 21 — and is averaging 4.7 rebounds per game.
l MOST RECENT ACTION: In their most recent game, the Commodores suffered a 71-67 setback against Dayton at Memorial Gym on Dec. 21. The defeat, which marked VU’s first home loss of the season, came just three days after the Commodores had been saddled with a disappointing 80-67 loss to Marquette on the road. … In the loss to Dayton, Vanderbilt trailed by as much as nine points early in the second half, but battled back to tie the game at 51-51 on a jumper by Rachel Bell with 7:32 to go. Dayton, however, made a series of big plays down the stretch, including a three-point play by Austria Kelley with 1:08 remaining that gave the Flyers a four-point cushion, and Dayton held on from there. … Heather Bowe finished with a team-high 15 points. Dayton’s Andrea Hoover, the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, scored a game-high 20 for the Flyers. … Kristen Gaffney and Morgan Batey added 13 points apiece, and Bell had 11 for the Commodores, who were once again without the services of injured post players Marqu’es Webb and Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau. .
