Jan. 18, 2009
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Coach Balcomb’s Postgame Press Conference
Press Conference with Wirth, Chisholm
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Christina Wirth scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half, and reserve forward Chanel Chisholm added a career-high 15 to help No. 18 Vanderbilt beat LSU 75-67 on Sunday.
“Chanel really stepped up for us today,” Melanie Balcomb, VU head coach, said. “She created so many aggressive opportunities for our team. She came off the bench and gave us a huge spark.”
Guards Jennifer Risper, Merideth Marsh and Jessica Moody all added 10 points for the Commodores, who are 3-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2000-01.
“We are just taking it game-by-game,” noted Balcomb. “We can’t afford to look ahead in this league. When you look at our schedule of the three games that we just played we have put ourselves in a good position.”
Vanderbilt (14-4, 3-0) did not lead until Chisholm’s layup with 13 seconds to play in the first half made it 31-30. It then opened the second half with a 7-2 run, started by a 3-point basket from Wirth, and never trailed.
“We struggled offensively in the first half, but we were able to get a lot of offensive rebounds and that led to second chance points,” Balcomb added. “If we can rebound on the offensive end like we did today (21 rebounds) in every game this year, we will have a great chance to win.”
LSU (9-6, 2-1) got all but 12 of its points from three players. Junior Allison Hightower led all scorers with a career-high 22 points. Freshman Ayana Dunning had 20, also a career-high, and freshman LaSondra Barrett added 13.
