March 5, 2007
Davis to the Rescue: Senior Leads Vanderbilt to Title
By Will Matthews
Visit Our SEC Tournament Central Site for Complete Commodore Championship Coverage
Championship Recap: Vanderbilt 51 LSU 45
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DULUTH, Ga. – Dee Davis would be the first one to admit that she didn’t play the kind of game that Vanderbilt has come to expect of her in Saturday’s victory over Georgia in the Southeastern Conference semifinals.
Plagued by foul trouble all night, the senior guard played just 14 minutes and scored only five points.
But the rest of the Commodores were on fire from the perimeter Saturday and freshman point guard Merideth Marsh had a career night that included a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line, Vanderbilt was able to more than get by without Davis.
They wouldn’t have to in Sunday’s championship game against LSU.
On a night in which Vanderbilt shot an uncharacteristically low 42 percent from the field, Davis – the school’s all-time leader in assists and an All-SEC first team selection – had one of the finest games of her collegiate career. She played all 40 minutes, scored 19 points – including a crucial breakaway lay-up with 24 seconds left – and led the Commodores to their third SEC Tournament championship in six years.
“This was overdue, especially with how I played [Saturday] night,” Davis said. “I didn’t even play 20 minutes. And I knew that I needed to be on the floor with my teammates. Being a senior, you need to be a leader and so I just made it a point tonight to come out and do everything that the team needed.”
Vanderbilt needed her to do just about everything Sunday, and she responded in a way that was emblematic of her being one of the best players in the program’s history. Davis created penetration, was one of the few Commodores to shoot well from the field and led a defensive effort that was key to Vanderbilt’s victory.
“Her game tonight was amazing,” said fellow senior Carla Thomas, who scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds Sunday. “She stepped up offensively and defensively. She was everywhere and she played 40 minutes of amazing basketball. There is no other word for it really.”
Davis can often be overlooked on a team with so much offensive firepower and which boasts a number of different players who can score from almost anywhere on the floor. But ask any one of her teammates about what she means to the club, and it becomes clear that, internally at least, her value is not underappreciated.
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“Dee is the general of our team,” said senior Caroline Williams. “And she does kind of fly under the radar. She doesn’t get the kind of respect that she deserves. But on our team she does. And we all know that she is the person that we have to have out there on the floor to run our team and run all of us and keep us motivated.”
On Sunday she filled a void left by the sub par shooting performances of players like Williams and sophomore Christina Wirth, who both were bottled up by LSU’s pressure defense and not allowed very many clean looks.
Williams missed both of her three-point attempts Sunday and scored just three points, while Wirth – who entered the game having connected on nine of her 10 three-point shots in the tournament – was 0 for 3 from long range and scored only five points.
But Vanderbilt is a team with any number of weapons that can hurt an opponent, something Davis proved Sunday.
“They took away our threes, but they forgot about Dee Davis and she stepped up,” said Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb. “It is like pick your poison. It can be somebody different every night. And I thought Dee really stepped up at key spots for us.”
And while Davis at times is only Vanderbilt’s third or even fourth offensive option, Thomas says that is by Davis’ own design.
“People overlook her way too much,” Thomas said. “She is an offensive threat, but she just chooses to pass us the ball because that is the player that she is. But she can score whenever she wants to and she can dominate.”
Will Matthews spent three years as an investigative reporter with the Los Angeles Newspaper Group in Southern California. He is currently in his third year at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
