Vanderbilt built an early 7-0 lead and did not allow the Bulldogs to
even score until almost 3 minutes into the contest. Caroline Williams and Tina Wirth both made 3-point shots within a minute of
each other to put the Commodore lead at 18-6 with 12:08 remaining in
the half. Caroline then added another 3-point shot with 10:35 left
to make the Georgia deficit 17 at 23-6.
After picking up her second foul starter Dee Davis was replaced by
freshman Meredith Marsh. Marsh responded by scoring 7 points,
dishing out 2 assists and grabbing 2 rebounds during the half.
Marsh's 3-point shot with 2:40 remaining coupled with 2 free throws
in the final seconds of the half helped Vanderbilt to enjoy a 37-18
halftime lead.
Vanderbilt continued the Lady Bulldog thrashing in the second half.
The lead reached 24 on a lay-up by Caroline Williams with 12:22
remaining. Another Wirth 3-pointer made the score 55-28 with 11:15
left.
Marsh, who was reinserted into the game after Dee Davis picked up
her fourth foul, put Vanderbilt up by 31 on two free throws with
7:20 left. Marsh made 10 of 10 free throws and scored a career high
15 points for the game.
The closest Georgia would get to Vanderbilt in the final 10 minutes
was 25 points. Vanderbilt limited Georgia to just 33 percent from
field goal range and 16 percent from 3-point range for the game.
Meanwhile Vanderbilt converted on an impressive 60 percent of their
field goals for the game and 61.5 percent of their 3-pointers.
Vanderbilt also made 85 percent of their free throws including 18 of
20 in the second half.
Wirth led Vanderbilt in scoring with 21. Georgia was led in scoring by Tasha Humphrey and Cori Chambers who each had 17.
"You win championships with defense, and that's something we haven't
been able to do." Put the two together [offense and defense], I
think we can really be tough," said a happy Vanderbilt head coach
Melanie Balcomb after the game.
Balcomb's counterpart, Andy Landers, wasn't in such a good mood, "I
think it's pretty obvious, Vanderbilt did what Vanderbilt wanted to
do. They did it the way they wanted to do it. We didn't affect it
very much," said a stunned Landers after the game.
The Commodores are now 35-23 all-time in the SEC Tournament.
Vanderbilt improves to 26-5 with the win and will face LSU tomorrow
at 6:30 p.m. CST. It will be the seventh time Vanderbilt has
appeared in the championship game. Vanderbilt has won the tournament
4 times, most recently in 2004. Georgia will now await NCAA
selection Sunday for a likely at large bid to the NCAA Tournament.