VU Women Fall to ODU, 80-65

On Sunday afternoon, the Vanderbilt women's basketball team fell to the Lady Monarchs of Old Dominion 80-65 in Memorial Gym. Liz Sherwood and Jen Risper scored 16 points each for Vanderbilt. T.J. Jordan led ODU with 15 points. Whitney D shares some photos from the game.

After taking an early 6-0 lead, Vanderbilt fell behind against the more physical, more aggressive Lady Monarchs.




Looking for more aggressive play from the Dores, Coach Melanie Balcomb inserted freshman post Chanel Chisholm into the lineup in the first half.




Less than two minutes later, Chisholm hit the deck, requiring the attention of Vanderbilt trainer Michele Loftis as ODU Coach Wendy Larry looks on.




Liz Sherwood scored ten points in the first half. For the game, she was seven for nine from the field, but her playing time was somewhat limited by foul trouble.




Old Dominion was a very physical team on both ends of the court. (No, this wasn't a foul.)




Freshman point guard Jence Rhoads got some experience with the type of pressure defense that she'll likely see in SEC play.




After trailing by eight points at half time, Vanderbilt dug a deep hole in the second half, trailing by more than 20 points. One of the more memorable plays of the second half followed a defensive rebound by ODU's Megan Pym. Tina Wirth tied up the ball and jerked it away with such determination that Pym was flung to the floor, where she took her time getting up. (Alternate possession gave the ball to ODU.)




In the second half, freshman posts Chanel Chisholm and Hannah Tuomi saw significant action. "They're very aggressive, they're very physical, they're not afraid of contact," said Balcomb after the game."




After the ODU defender bit on the ball fake, Tuomi sank the basket.




Junior guard Jen Risper finished the game with 16 points, including two points from this basket and two points following a technical foul on ODU's T.J. Jordan. Unfortunately foul trouble limited her playing time to just 18 minutes for the game.




After the game and the post-game locker-room talk, a group of Vanderbilt players, including Tina Wirth, joined young fans on the court for a brief clinic and autograph session.




Lauren Lueders




Jence Rhoads




Ashlee Bridge




Liz Sherwood




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Photos copyright 2007 by WhitneyD for VandyMania.com.