Jan. 10, 2008
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Thursday, Jan. 17, vs. Georgia at 7 p.m. CT
Sunday, Jan. 27, vs. Ole Miss at 2 p.m. CT
Thursday, Feb. 7, vs. South Carolina at 7 p.m. CT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team used
a balanced attack and stifling defense to open Southeastern
Conference play with a 72-50 victory over Mississippi State
Thursday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
Sophomore guard Merideth Marsh led the Commodores (12-4, 1-0 SEC) with 15 points, including 13 first-half points. Three other Commodores notched double-figures, including junior Jennifer Risper (13), junior Christina Wirth (12) and senior Liz Sherwood (11).
The Lady Bulldogs (12-4, 0-1) were led by Alexis Rack’s 17 points. As a team, Mississippi State shot 29 percent from the field and was held well below its scoring average of 77.4 points per game.
Vanderbilt jumped out to an early 10-3 lead as Marsh scored eight of the Commodores’ first 10 points. The Commodores would stretch the lead to 12 at 22-10 with 8:49 remaining on another Marsh three, one of three she knocked down in the opening half.
The Lady Bulldogs trimmed the lead to seven with 1:08 remaining as Marneshia Richard nailed a three. The Commodores scored the final four points of the half on layups by Sherwood and sophomore Jessica Mooney to take 36-25 lead to the locker room.
The two teams traded buckets through the first eight minutes of the second half. After Mississippi State cut the lead to eight with 12:30 remaining, the Commodores went on a 18-4 run and began to pull away.
The Commodores hit the road this weekend, traveling to Baton Rouge to take on LSU on Sunday, Jan. 13, at 4 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by Fox Sports South. Mississippi State returns home to play host to Kentucky on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.
