March 8, 2012
There are roughly nine days and one hour between the time Vanderbilt walked off the floor at Bridgestone Arena in their most recent outing, a hard-fought SEC quarterfinal loss to rival Tennessee, and the start of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection show at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 12. In that time, the Commodores get to enjoy VU’s spring break while reenergizing and focusing on basketball for the tournament that matters most.
March Madness with a dose of Memorial Magic
The 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament will begin on Saturday, March 17, however as the Commodores await their expected at-large bid to March Madness, they know when it arrives they get to stay in Music City. As one of 16 host sites for the first and second rounds, Vanderbilt is guaranteed to play at home if it makes the tournament.
The Commodores certainly seem to have done enough to warrant one of 33 at-large bids, but decide for yourself with a few notes the selection committee will be looking at:
- 28th in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), which is the computer formula regularly used by the selection committee
- Played five of final eight regular season games on the road
- Went 6-4 over last 10 games, with all four losses to top-25 RPI teams (three on the road, one on a neutral floor)
- Of nine losses on the season, eight were on the road and eight were to teams in the top-35 of RPI
- Played 11 games against the top-35 RPI (3-8 with seven of eight losses on the road)
- Four of five repeat opponents in SEC play were in the top-35 of RPI. Only one other SEC school had that many top-35 repeat opponents (Florida)
- No losses to sub-100 RPI teams
Throw in the fact that ESPN’s women’s bracketologist Charlie Creme has solidly had the Commodores in his field of 64 all year (he actually has moved them up in his bracket since the SEC Tournament) and it’s a pretty safe bet you’ll see Vanderbilt on the floor against some top-notch competition at Memorial Gym.
If you’re planning ahead, the first round games at Vanderbilt are set for Sunday, March 18, at 4:00 and 6:30 p.m. The match-ups for those times will be set by ESPN after the field is announced. The winners will return on Tuesday, March 20, at 8:30 p.m.
Foggie Turns Heads
Vanderbilt’s Christina Foggie, who became VU’s first SEC scoring champion since Wendy Scholtens in 1991 (Scholtens also won scoring titles in ’89 and ’90), was the only sophomore in the conference to garner First Team All-SEC honors after posting 17.9 points per contest.
Foggie’s story of the journey back from multiple concussions as a freshman to lead the SEC in scoring as a sophomore is one of the best in college basketball this season.
As far back as December, ESPN.com’s Mechelle Voepel took a look at Foggie’s journey and her paring in the backcourt with classmate Jasmine Lister.
Sophomore guards lead Vanderbilt
At the SEC Tournament, FullCourt.com’s LaChina Robinson, who has served as a color commentator for several Vandy games this season, chatted with Foggie about her bounce-back season.
Foggie leads Vanderbilt to second round match-up with Tennessee
On a local level, it was pointed out by the City Paper’s Jerome Boettcher that Vanderbilt boasts the SEC’s top scorer in men’s and women’s basketball after John Jenkins captured the men’s scoring title (20.0 points per game this season).
Pair of Commodores scoop-up SEC men’s, women’s scoring titles
Vandy is the first school to boast the men’s and women’s scoring champions since 2006 when LSU’s Glen “Big Baby” Davis and Seimone Augustus each led the league. It is also just the fourth time in league history the same school won both scoring titles and the first time Vanderbilt has done it.
Then there is the shot of the year of the year for the Commodores, which came when Foggie banked in a three at the buzzer to force overtime against Florida before Vandy went on to win, 75-69. Her shot, and the call of play-by-play announcer Charlie Mattos, made ESPNU’s Women’s Buzzer Beaters of the Year.
ESPNU Women’s Buzzer Beaters of the Year
Balcomb Moves Up The Ladder
When Melanie Balcomb earned her 400th career win against Mississippi State in the first round of the SEC Tournament, she also moved up on the list of tenured coaches in the SEC.
Leading the way are Tennessee’s Pat Summitt (38th season) and Georgia’s Andy Landers (33rd season), but third entering the year was Mississippi State’s Sharon Fanning-Otis (17th season at MSU following six years at Kentucky).
Fanning-Otis announced her retirement prior to the SEC Tournament and the Lady Bulldogs’ loss to Vanderbilt ended their season. Some other coaches that entered the league around the same time as Balcomb have retired as well, including Auburn’s Nell Fortner and Renee Ladner at Ole Miss.
Balcomb knows that many of the faces at the SEC coaches meetings have changed during her decade on West End. She talked about that and maintaining the Vanderbilt standards of NCAA bids and 20-win seasons with the Tennessean’s Jeff Lockridge.
Vanderbilt’s Balcomb quietly built a solid program, reputation
Hopefully that reading and some NCAA bracket discussion can keep Commodore fans busy until they learn what three teams will be joining Vandy at Memorial Gym for the first and second rounds of March Madness. Be sure to check back often, as VUCommodores.com will be with the squad throughout its NCAA Tournament run.
