The Vanderbilt Commodores (#19 ESPN/USA Today, #25 AP) host the Belmont Bruins on Friday, Nov. 23 in the first round of their Thanksgiving Tournament in Nashville, TN. Vanderbilt (3-1), fresh off their first road win at Clemson Tuesday night, will be playing a cross-town team on the rise. Belmont, located just 2 miles from the Vanderbilt campus, is a former NAIA school that moved up to Division I in 2001. Despite their 2-3 start, Belmont is a team to watch, as they made it to the NCAA Tournament last season after winning the Atlantic Sun Conference tourney and receiving an automatic bid, where they fell in the first round of the NCAAs to Georgia. Belmont consistently ranks at or near the top of their conference and has placed at least one player on the All-Conference first team each year they have competed in the Atlantic Sun.

Belmont is led by senior post player Brooke Sunday from nearby Sparta, TN, who prepped at perennial powerhouse White County High School. Sunday is leading the team in scoring, averaging 14 points per game. Another standout player for Belmont is junior Jessica Bobbitt, a junior post player from Trenton, TN who started all 32 games as a sophomore. Bobbitt led the Atlantic Sun in blocks last season, tallying 94, which ranked her 10th in the nation in blocks per game, and she has swatted away 18 shots through 5 games this season, for a 3.6 block per game average.

Vanderbilt continues to get solid play from their 3 upperclassmen: senior center Liz Sherwood, junior forward Christina Wirth, and junior guard Jen Risper. Sherwood and Wirth are averaging double-digits in scoring, while Risper has provided some of the most consistent all-around play of any Commodore player. Freshman Jence Rhoads has started at point all four games, and has shown a little inconsistency of late, but still has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. Sophomore Jessica Mooney was replaced in the starting lineup by Lauren Lueders against Clemson, but came off the bench for her most productive outing of the season, scoring 10 points in 12 minutes of action.

Probable starters for Belmont (with season averages):
Shaunda Strayhorn, 5’6” sophomore guard - 8.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.6 apg
Kristin Bunch, 5’9” sophomore guard - 7.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg
Amber Rockwell, 5’8” sophomore guard - 7.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg
Brooke Sunday, 6’1” senior post - 14 ppg, 5 rpg
Jessica Bobbitt, 6’2” junior post/center - 10 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.6 bpg

Probable starters for Vanderbilt (with season averages):
Liz Sherwood, 6’4” senior center - 15.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg
Christina Wirth, 6’1” junior forward - 16 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.5 apg
Jen Risper, 5’9” junior guard - 9 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3 apg, 3.5 spg
Lauren Lueders, 5’8” sophomore guard - 5.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg
Jence Rhoads, 5’11” freshman point guard - 5.3 ppg, 3 rpg, 3.5 apg

My prediction is Belmont will hang tough for a little while, but Vanderbilt’s superior athleticism will come through for a win. Vanderbilt is hoping for a good turnout for this tournament, with free admission to all 4 games. After the Vanderbilt/Belmont game, Iowa State faces Michigan immediately following. The winners of these first 2 games will face each other for the Thanksgiving Tournament championship on Sunday afternoon, Nov.25, preceded by the consolation game.

Game notes: Belmont coach Tony Cross has coached the Bruins for 22 seasons, after having served as a graduate assistant in 1983-84 under coach Pat Summitt at Tennessee. Remember: there’s always an SEC connection…

Game time for the Vanderbilt/Belmont matchup is set for 2 pm in Memorial Gym. Live audio and video are available for this game.