2009 Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament
One short week ago, when asked if she hoped her Commodore team would be sent to either the Chattanooga or Bowling Green sub-regional so as to be playing close to home, Vanderbilt senior guard Jen Risper replied with a resounding “No.” She was quick to point out that she meant no offense to Vandy’s fans - it’s just that, to most of the players, getting to travel to new places in the NCAA tourney is half the fun. Well, the Commodores didn’t get to travel anywhere they hadn’t played before, and it’s starting to look like Vanderbilt is comfortable enough in The Pit to start calling it a home away from home. Vanderbilt made the trek back to Albuquerque with much the same result as last year: they thumped their first round opponent, the Western Carolina Catamounts by a score of 73-44. Vanderbilt senior forward Christina Wirth led all scorers with 23 points.
The game started rather sluggishly, with neither team able to connect until over 3 minutes had lapsed in the game. Vandy missed a variety of inside shots, and seemed to be playing rather tight, but Western Carolina suffered from the same jitters. WCU missed some easy shots in close, but found a groove from outside the arc. With a little over 6 minutes remaining in the first half, the game was still fairly even, but the Commodores went on an 11-2 run to close out the half and take a 29-18 lead into the locker room. Vanderbilt came out in the second half and played more to their own strengths, setting the tempo and allowing their defense to create the offense. Wirth drew the unenviable assignment of guarding Brooke Johnson, the Catamounts’ 6’4” center who had averaged 18.3 points and 9 rebounds during WCU’s Southern Conference Tournament run. Wirth held Johnson to 8 points, and no Catamount scored in double digits. The Commodores held the Catamounts to 28% shooting from the field, and only sent them to the line 11 times in the game, all in the second half. The biggest adjustment made by the Commodores was to take away the Catamounts’ outside game; after connecting on 4-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half, Vanderbilt’s defense held them scoreless from beyond the arc in the second half. Jen Risper had 11 points and 9 rebounds despite sitting for several minutes in the first half with a bloody nose.
The Catamounts concluded their season with a 21-12 record. Vanderbilt continues into the second round of NCAA play Monday evening, March 23, against the Kansas State University Wildcats, first round winners over Drexel by a score of 68-44.
