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Home > SECWB News & More! > SEC Teams > Vanderbilt > Back to the Drawing Board for Vandy as They Fall to LSU
Back to the Drawing Board for Vandy as They Fall to LSU
by LeAnne Harrington, SECWB.com
Posted: January 14th, 2008 @ 10:34pm
Source: View Box Score
The coaches of the Vanderbilt Commodores have spent the first half of the season trying to put the right combination of players on the floor to put more games in the "win" column, but just about the time it seemed coach Melanie Balcomb and company had it figured out, the Commodores traveled to Baton Rouge and ran into a player they had no answer for: Sylvia Fowles. Fowles, in only her third game back since having knee surgery, scored 18 points and pulled down 11 boards as her LSU team beat Vandy by a score of 62-51. The score is not indicative of just how ugly this game really was. Vanderbilt, which leads the SEC in field goal percentage and is consistently one of the top shooting teams in the nation, went cold as ice in this game, connecting on only 15% from the field in the first half. The Commodores started the game by missing 14 of their first 15 shots and committing 10 turnovers, but the only thing that kept this game from becoming a total fiasco was the fact that LSU committed 13 turnovers themselves in the first half. Vanderbilt trailed 18-2 with 5:25 remaining in the first half, and the Commodores only reached double-digits with 2 seconds remaining in the first half.
But the difference-maker in this game was Fowles; Vanderbilt didn't have an answer for her, no matter what combination they threw at her. 6'1" junior Christina Wirth moved from post to center for Vandy but was unable to match up with the 6'6" Fowles. Freshman Hannah Tuomi came over on help-side defense to double-team her, but Fowles is the consummate center in the game: recognizing the double-team, time and again she kicked the ball out, finding the open player. When matched up against senior Liz Sherwood, the much faster Fowles ran the floor at will, despite wearing heavy tape on her just-repaired knee.
To their credit, Vanderbilt didn't just roll over and play dead in the hostile confines of Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Commodores fought and scrapped their way back in this game, cutting the Tiger lead to six mid-way through the second half, but the effort seemed to take it's toll on the Commodores, and they didn't have anything left in the tank as LSU shut the door on them for good. Erica White was the only other double-digit scorer for LSU with 11, and Vanderbilt was led in scoring by Jessica Mooney and Liz Sherwood who both came off the bench to score 15 and 13 respectively. Merideth Marsh and Jen Risper, who had been big sparks in previous Vandy wins, were each held scoreless in this game.
Vanderbilt hopes to get back on track when they return to Nashville, but their schedule doesn't get any easier, as they take on #10 Georgia on Thursday evening, Jan. 17. Game time is set for 7 pm CST in Memorial Gym.
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