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by LeAnne Harrington, SECWB.com

The Vanderbilt Commodores, the #4 seed in the Spokane regional, will face the #5 seed West Virginia Mountaineers in a second round matchup in Albuquerque, NM this evening in “The Pit”, as New Mexico’s home court is affectionately called. Vanderbilt coasted into the second round after routing #13 seed Montana 75-47 on Saturday night, but West Virginia’s road into the second round couldn’t possibly be any different: they struggled against host school and #12 seed New Mexico, finally gutting out a one-point decision in front of a decidedly hostile crowd. With leading scorer Oyalinka Sanni on the bench in foul trouble for much of the game, Chakhia Cole rose to the occasion, scoring 22 points and pulling down 13 rebounds for the Mountaineers in their 61-60 win. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt was able to rotate their lineup quite freely, allowing their starters to keep fresh legs for tonight’s game.

Vanderbilt is playing good basketball right now, taking care of the ball and playing hard-nosed defense. They seem to have passed the bump in the road they suffered during their two games of the SEC tournament, where they played sluggishly and seemed out of sorts. Vanderbilt’s hallmarks are a very nice balance of inside/outside ball and unselfish players who will give up their own shot to make the extra pass. Not noted for having any one single superstar, anybody can step up and lead the way on any given night. Vanderbilt has four players averaging between 8.6 and 12.9 points per game, and more than a few Commodores can burn their opponents from outside. They are crashing the boards hard from all positions, with 5-9 guard Jen Risper leading the team in rebounding. Vanderbilt is averaging 71.4 points per game while holding their opponents to 56.2. With only one senior on the squad, Vanderbilt’s best basketball may be yet to come.

West Virginia is led by all-Big East senior center Oyalinka Sanni, who is averaging 16.5 points per game while pulling down 7.1 rebounds per game. While everyone else was focused on perennial powerhouses Connecticut and Rutgers, West Virginia quietly put together a 12-4 Big East conference mark and beat Rutgers in the regular season. The Mountaineers have a variety of offensive threats, and Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb complimented West Virginia, saying they “looked like an SEC team.” They enter tonight’s matchup averaging 70 points per game while limiting their opponents to 56.1.

Probable starters for Vanderbilt:

G Jence Rhoads, 5-11 FR: 3.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.4 apg
G Merideth Marsh, 5-9 SO: 8.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G Jen Risper, 5-9 JR: 9.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 50.2% FG, 75.6% FT
F Christina Wirth, 6-1 JR: 12.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 83% FT
C Hannah Tuomi, 6-0 FR: 5.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg

Probable starters for West Virginia:

C Oyalinka Sanni, 6-2 SR: 16.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg
G LaQuita Owens, 5-9 SR: 13.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg
F Meg Bulger, 6-0 SR: 12.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg
F Chakhia Cole, 5-10 SR: 10.2 ppg, 3.5 apg
G Ashley Powell, 5-6 JR: 3.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg

My prediction is this may be a tough second round matchup for Vanderbilt. West Virginia is blessed with a solid group of scoring threats that could make life difficult for the Commodores, but several factors may just tip the scales in Vanderbilt’s favor. The high altitude and Saturday night’s hard fought game may have taken a toll on the Mountaineers, whereas the Commodores should come out rested and refreshed. Look for the boisterous crowd in “The Pit” to be all over West Virginia, since they are responsible for the elimination of their beloved hometown team. I think Vandy should take this in a fairly close one.

Posted under LeAnne Harrington & NCAA Tournament & Vanderbilt | No Comments »

by LeAnne Harrington, SECWB.com

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Any doubts about which Vanderbilt team would show up to begin NCAA play were dispelled in the Commodores’ first round dismissal of the Montana Grizzlies by a score of 75-47. Vanderbilt, which ended the regular season averaging almost 73 points per game, had played sluggishly in their two games at the SEC tournament, scoring only 49 in their quarterfinal win over Auburn, and then following that with a 48 point total in their semifinal loss to the Tennessee Lady Vols, both season lows. After a two-week layoff in which they had some great practices, the Commodores came out in their first round NCAA game loose, confident, and clicking on all cylinders.

Vanderbilt had a balanced scoring attack, with freshman center Hannah Tuomi tying a career high with 14 points in only twenty minutes of play. Junior Christina Wirth added 13 points and 5 rebounds, also seeing 20 minutes of action, and senior center Liz Sherwood added 12 points in 18 minutes. Montana, making their 17th NCAA appearance, was overmatched in both size and speed. Vandy outscored the Grizzlies in the paint 38-18, and scored 27 points off of 22 Montana turnovers. In fact, Montana had more turnovers (22) than they had field goals (15) for the game. Grizzly coach Robin Selvig blamed it on Vanderbilt’s quickness, adding, “you can’t simulate it in practice.” Montana was led by guard Mandy Morales with 11 points and 8 rebounds. She was the only double-digit scorer for the Grizzlies.

Vanderbilt knew they would have their hands full in this first-round matchup, as Montana entered the game as the fifth best team in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage behind the top 3-point shooter in the country, senior guard Sonya Rogers, who entered the game averaging 48.6% from behind the arc. Rogers eventually connected on two of her four 3-point attempts, but Vandy held the Grizzlies to 25% from outside for the game on 4-of-16 shooting. Montana connected on 39.1% of their shots in the first half, but the Commodores shut them down in the second, holding them to 21.4% from the field. Vandy also did well on the boards, outrebounding Montana 45-37.

With a young team that features two freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup, coach Melanie Balcomb says the team has adopted the motto “No Pressure” to alleviate just that which naturally comes from the expectations put on a talented team which set a new school record for conference wins with 11. Pressure naturally comes from carrying on a proud tradition of post-season success that has been building at Vanderbilt since the late 1980s. This squad is the ninth straight Vanderbilt team to make it to the NCAA tournament, and received the school’s 21st NCAA bid overall.

Up next for Vanderbilt is a second round game against West Virginia on Monday evening, March 24. The Mountaineers did Vanderbilt a big favor by knocking off sub-regional host New Mexico. Playing West Virginia in “The Pit” will hopefully be less of a pressure cooker situation than it would have been if New Mexico had made it through to the second round. But then again, it doesn’t really matter to Vanderbilt who they face; their approach will remain “No Pressure.”

Posted under LeAnne Harrington & NCAA Tournament & Vanderbilt | No Comments »