March 19, 2012
Vandy Notes Update (NCAA Second Round vs. Duke) 
The seventh-seeded Vanderbilt women’s basketball team (23-9) will look to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 15th time in program history when it plays host to the second-seeded Duke Blue Devils (25-5) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, March 20.
Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. CT and the game can be seen on ESPN2 (regional basis), ESPNU (national broadcast) and ESPN3.com. The game can also be heard in Music City on WNSR 560 AM and around the world for free on VUCommodores.com.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by clicking here.
Scouting The Commodores
Vanderbilt moves to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in the last 10 years under Melanie Balcomb, now sporting a 23-9 overall record. First Team All-SEC selection Christina Foggie leads Vanderbilt with 17.5 points per game. Right behind her is a trio of double-digit scorers. Classmate and backcourtmate Jasmine Lister is averaging 12.4 points per game following a 19-point performance in the first round win over Middle Tennessee. Lister is also posting 5.3 assists per game. Next is a pair of post players in Tiffany Clarke and Stephanie Holzer. Clarke is a junior forward posting 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. A redshirt sophomore center, Holzer posts 11.0 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game and is coming off a 10-point, nine-rebound performance against MTSU. Vanderbilt is one of the top shooting teams in the nation, shooting 46% from the field and 36% from three.
Scouting The Blue Devils
Second-seeded Duke is 25-5 following an 82-47 win over 15th-seeded Samford in the first round. Elizabeth Williams, who was the ACC Rookie and Defensive Player of the year, as well as the ESPN.com National Freshman of the Year, is averaging a team-high 14.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. She scored 11 points in the opening round win over Samford. Behind her are three more players in double-figures. Chelsea Grey is posting 12.2 points and 6.0 assists per contest (16 vs. Samford), while Tricia Liston is averaging 11.5 points per game following a game-high 22 points against Samford and Haley Peters is recording 10.6 points per outing. She had 13 points and seven rebounds in the first round. Duke will be looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 14th time in the past 15 seasons. The Blue Devils have an all-time record of 47-18 in the NCAA Tournament.
Vanderbilt vs. Duke – The Series
The Commodores and Blue Devils, two of the more storied programs in women’s basketball, have met just five times, with the Blue Devils holding a 2-3 edge in the series. The first meeting came in the 1982 AIAW Tournament, with the Commodores taking a 75-57 win in Johnson City, Tenn. Duke then won both contests during a two-game series played in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons. The Blue Devils won 79-71 at Memorial Gym before taking a 68-59 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The programs played another two-game series in 2006-07 and 2007-08, with Duke winning again in Durham, 69-48, before the Commodores took the most recent meeting, 68-55, at Memorial Gym.
On-Deck
The winner of the Vanderbilt-Duke game will move on to the Fresno Region semifinals to face the winner of Tuesday night’s contest between third-seeded St. John’s and sixth-seeded Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. Action at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif., gets underway Saturday, March 24. The regional final will be on Monday, March 26.
