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Home > SECWB News & More! > Our Staff & Contributors > LeAnne Harrington > Vanderbilt At The Crossroads
Vanderbilt At The Crossroads
by LeAnne Harrington, SECWB.com
Posted: January 9th, 2008 @ 9:11am
With the first half of the season officially over, non-conference play has ended and teams are heading into the real nitty-gritty portion of their schedules: conference play in the SEC. While there have been a few surprises thus far (Arkansas’ current unbeaten streak at 15-0 and a national ranking, LSU’s drop in the rankings following Sylvia Fowles’ injury-induced surgery and her team’s subsequent losses), one of the more perplexing surprises has been the up-and-down first half of the season for Vanderbilt. Let’s take a look at the Commodores’ season thus far, and look ahead at what may be in store.
Vanderbilt began their 2007-2008 campaign with a pre-season Top 25 ranking, and although the Commodores returned 3 upperclassmen who are capable of stellar play and solid point production, the bulk of Vanderbilt’s offense from last season is gone with the graduation of three of their starting five: Caroline Williams, Carla Thomas and Dee Davis. Nevertheless, with senior post player Liz Sherwood, junior forward Christina Wirth, and junior guard Jennifer Risper returning, in addition to some stellar underclassmen and a solid group of incoming freshmen, the Commodores seemed to be capable of making another run to post-season play. Vanderbilt began their season with home-court wins over UAB and Furman, but trouble began early with a road trip to Indiana State and an overtime loss in a hostile environment. The Commodores rebounded nicely with a solid road win at Clemson, and then returned home to host their own Thanksgiving Tournament, which they won with a dismantling of Belmont and a much closer win over Iowa State. Standing at 5-1, two things were evident: Vanderbilt needed to gain some consistency in taking care of the ball, and free-throw shooting was an Achille’s heel that just might cost them some games down the road if exploited. But then Vandy pulled off a double-digit win over #11 Duke and the Commodores seemed to have righted their tilting ship.
The Commodores next winged their way to the West Coast to play in the Contra Costa Times Classic, where they posted a win over St. Mary’s before falling to Cal in a game that was not as close as the score would indicate. Back to Nashville and some tough questions about where they stood. A solid win over Western Kentucky was followed by a home-court loss to Colorado. A huge win against over-matched Lipscomb did nothing to improve this team, as they followed that up with a lackluster-at-best loss to Old Dominion at home and a tumble from the rankings. A 3-hour team meeting following that loss has done much to improve team chemistry and give them a clearer vision of where they are and what they want to accomplish in the second half of the season. Decisive wins over USF at home and Princeton on the road finished off the non-conference portion of their schedule, and Vanderbilt is now poised to write the rest of their story.
Head coach Melanie Balcomb and her staff have shuffled the lineup through several transitions, and the shuffling may not be over. Freshman Jence Rhoads got the starting nod at point guard early on, but doesn’t yet seem ready to take over the reigns on a full-time basis. Sophomore guard Jessica Mooney has responded well to coming off the bench, and has been more productive in limited minutes than she was as a starter, and has accepted the changes gracefully. Merideth Marsh has shown poise and a willingness to be a leader, while Jen Risper has been the most all-around productive Commodore in the lineup. She plays with aggressiveness and heart on both ends of the court, and is the Commodore I’d most like to have the ball in her hands if the game is on the line. Senior center Liz Sherwood, after starting the first 13 games, has come off the bench in the last 2 and freshman Hannah Tuomi has started in her place. Sherwood still leads the team in scoring, followed by clutch junior Christina Wirth, a hard-nosed baller with a lot of heart and fire.
Where will this young Commodore team go in the second half of their season? They are poised at a crossroads of sorts, and only time will tell which path they take. Will they buckle down and play up to their potential or will they fold under the pressure? I, for one, can’t wait to find out.
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