All ten of the Commodores available for action played at least ten
minutes, and every one of them scored. Senior forward Ashley Earley led the
team in scoring with 20 points in just 19 minutes of play, followed by
sophomore forward Carla Thomas with 19. Thomas was also leading
rebounder with 8 boards. Senior guard Abi Ramsey added 11 points, and junior
forward Nicole Jules and sophomore guard Dee Davis each had 10.
Vanderbilt scored the first points of the game on a jumper by Ashley
Earley and never lost the lead after that. Several consecutive missed
shots by the Commodores kept the score close for the first few minutes of
the game, with Vanderbilt leading 4-2 at the 16:53 mark.
But then, over the next three and a half minutes, the Vanderbilt held
Saint Louis scoreless by forcing four turnovers and only allowing the
Billikens one rebound. During that span, Saint Louis only managed two
shots, and the Commodores scored 14 straight points to take a 18-2 lead
with 13:46 left in the half.
It was never close after that. As the half progressed, the lead
continued to slowly grow, passing 20 points at 40-19 with five minutes left
and reaching 27 points before a basket by Mia Johnson trimmed to 25
points at 51-26 just before halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, Vanderbilt went on a 7-0 run to take a
32-point lead at 58-26 less than two minutes into the half. As the
second half went on, Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb went increasingly
to the bench. Earley played only six minutes in the second half, and
Ramsey and Davis only played 8 minutes each.
Even so, the Vanderbilt lead continued to grow, reaching 40 points at
79-39 with 8:25 left in the half on a couple of made free throws by
sophomore guard Caroline Williams. A driving layup by freshman post Katie Eggers with 1:40 left gave the Commodores their biggest lead of the
night at 93-45. In the final minute, aided by a Vanderbilt foul, a
turnover and a missed shot, Saint Louis was able to trim the lead back a few
points to the final margin of 94-51.
For the game Vanderbilt shot 54.8% from the field while holding Saint
Louis to 37.3% shooting. Almost half of the Billkens' 51 shots were
from 3-point range, but they only connected on eight of them. Vanderbilt
didn't shoot particularly well from the outside either, shooting only
30.8% from long range. From the line, however, Vanderbilt shot 84.6%.
Earley was a perfect 6 for 6, and Jules and Williams were both 4 for 4.
The Commodores out-rebounded the Billikens 36-30, although offensive
rebounds were even at 13 for each team. The difference in turnovers was
much greater, with the Commodores forcing 29 turnovers, but only
committing 12 themselves. The foul differential was notable, too, as Saint
Louis was charged with 24 fouls compared to 11 for Vanderbilt.
With the victory Vanderbilt improves to 7-1, while Saint Louis falls to
1-7. Next, the Commodores hit the road again, this time to the
California coast for the Hilton Woodland Hills Beach Classic, sponsored by
Pepperdine University. In the opening round, on December 20, Vanderbilt
will play Brigham Young, while Pepperdine meets Wright State, with the
championship and consolation games the following day.
Next home action for the Commodores will be on January 2, 2005, when
they host Troy State in a 12:00 game in Memorial Gym.
Cherish Stringfield (3) swats the ball away from Saint Louis forward Marquita McFarland (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
|