VU Women Trounce Davidson, 82-50

Vanderbilt got back on the winning track on Friday afternoon with a 82-50 victory over the Davidson Wildcats in the first round of the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament. The Dores will meet Virginia Tech in the championship game on Saturday afternoon.

A trio of Dores scored in double figures in the victory, led by Hannah Tuomi with 16, followed by Tina Wirth with 14, and Merideth Marsh with 10.

In the second game on Friday, Virginia Tech defeated St. Joseph's 66-63 in a game that was close from start to finish. The largest lead by either team was eight points, and with 28 seconds to go, the Hawks trailed by just two points. Brittany Ford of St. Joseph's led all scorers with 19 points, while Lindsay Biggs led the Hokies with 17.

The consolation game of the tourney between Davidson and St. Joe's will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. followed by the championship game between Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt.


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Tina Wirth scored the first points of the game on a fastbreak with an assist from Jence Rhoads.




Hannah Tuomi led all scorers with 16 points and helped the Dores get off to a 9-0 lead to begin the game.




After Vanderbilt's hot start, Davidson closed within two points at 19-17. After Wirth hit one of a pair of three throws, she sank this 3-pointer to give the Dores a little breathing room at 23-17 with eight minutes left in the first half.




The Wildcats kept Vanderbilt's lead within single digits through most of the first half. But less than a minute after Tia Gibbs entered the game, she hit a 3-pointer to give Vanderbilt a 10-point lead at 32-22 with 2:45 left in the half.




Jence Rhoads scored on a fastbreak after she stole the ball. Although these were her only points of the game, she finished the game with five assists and no turnovers.




Vanderbilt started the second half strong with a 9-0 run. Tuomi scored four points from Hannah Tuomi, including a basket following this assist from Tina Wirth. In the meantime, the Dores didn't even let Davidson take a shot in the first four minutes of the second half.




Vanderbilt's defense forced 33 turnovers leading to 40 points.




Jen Risper finished with eight points, three assists, zero turnovers, and four steals. One of the steals turned into a fast break and these two points.




Freshman Jordan Coleman made her first appearance of the year. "She only practiced this week, so she doesn't mentally know anything we're doing offensively or defensively but she can make baskeball plays, so I wanted to make sure we got her in today," said Head Coach Melanie Balcomb afterwards. "She works extremely hard, so that's a huge positive to get her in the game."




Lauren Lueders had three assists, including this one, three rebounds and a steal in 11 minutes of play.




Ashlee Bridge played a career-high 18 minutes, finishing the game with six points.


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Photos copyright 2008 by Whitney D. for VandyMania.com