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Home > SECWB News & More! > 2008 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament Day 2, Evening Session Recap
2008 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament Day 2, Evening Session Recap
by LeAnne Harrington, SECWB.com
Posted: March 9th, 2008 @ 4:13am
Game 7: #4 seed Kentucky Wildcats vs. #5 seed Georgia Lady Bulldogs. Georgia, with an overall record of 22-8 and a #21 national ranking, had the chance to avenge a Jan. 31 home court loss to the Kentucky Wildcats which effectively sealed their SEC tourney fate, forcing them into a #5 seed and a first round game for the first time since 2004. But evidently revenge wasn’t enough of a motivation, as the Lady Dawgs fell to UK by a score of 57-50 in a game in which they seemed to play sluggishly. This was the first-ever loss by Georgia to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament; previously Georgia owned a 5-0 mark against the Wildcats in tournament play. Kentucky senior Sarah Elliott had a solid first half, posting 10 points and grabbing 7 boards en route to a 10 point Wildcat halftime lead at 34-24. UK’s Chelsea Chowning added 9 on 3-of-3 from 3-point land in the first 20 minutes. Kentucky held Georgia to 29% from the field in the first half, but first year Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell knew the game wasn’t over yet. “I was keenly aware that a run would take place in the second half, but I didn’t sense any panic at all.” Sure enough, Georgia tied the game at 39-all at the 12:42 mark of the second half, but never was able to gain a lead. Kentucky held their poise, eventually stretching their lead back up to 10, before a final 7-point margin. Georgia coach Andy Landers stated, “We never did get it over the hump. Elliott hurt us early and then hurt us late again.” Elliott finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds in only 28 minutes of play. Elliott’s numbers in this game moved her into ninth place on UK’s all-time scoring list and fourth place for career rebounds.
Tasha Humphrey, Georgia’s leading scorer who came into the tournament averaging 17.3 points per game (tied for third in the conference), was held to only 6 points, her season low. Georgia was led in scoring by sophomore guard Ashley Houts, who was the only double-digit scorer for the Lady Dawgs with 10. Sophomore Angel Robinson was Georgia’s leading rebounder with 14, and this marked the tenth time she has pulled down double-digit boards this season.
Georgia, based on their overall record, strength of schedule and national ranking, will receive an NCAA Tournament bid, but this loss to Kentucky probably dropped their seeding several notches. Let’s hope the Dawgs figure out what’s ailing them before the Big Dance. Kentucky, on the other hand, doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance of an NCAA bid, despite going 9-6 against SEC foes due to their overall record being barely above .500 (currently 15-14). Can anyone say, “Strange year in the SEC”?
Up next for Kentucky: a semifinal game with the LSU Tigers.
Game 8: #3 seed Vanderbilt Commodores vs. #6 seed Auburn Tigers. Vanderbilt has made a habit of being the last team to debut at the SEC Tournament, playing the final game of the second day 8 of the past 15 years, but this year’s delay seemed to have the Commodores out of sorts. Luckily for them, they were able to gut out an ugly (and I do mean ugly) win over Auburn, 49-44. This game was a sloppy, disjointed affair, plagued by an officiating crew which seemed to have a “one call” repertoire. I was beginning to wonder if they were receiving bonus miles from Expedia, they called “traveling” so many times. It got so bad that the normally mild-mannered Melanie Balcomb, Vanderbilt’s coach, was “T”-ed up during the first half due to her vociferous disagreement with said calls made against center Liz Sherwood and guard Jessica Mooney on three consecutive trips downcourt. Fox SportsNet commentator (and former SEC great) Carol Ross made the observation that Sherwood does, in fact, give a “bunny hop” at the beginning of her move in the post upon receiving the pass, but that it has never been caught or corrected. Seems rather odd timing, now that she is a senior, that a move she has made hundreds of times in her 3-year career in the SEC is now considered to be a “travel”… consistency, anyone?
Vanderbilt held an 8-point advantage at the half, leading 23-15, but never could shake free of the pesky Tigers. Vanderbilt had shot 41.7% from the field compared to Auburn’s 23.1%, but in the second half Vanderbilt was decidedly lucky to survive a reversal of fortune, connecting on only 28% of their shots compared to Auburn’s 34.8% shooting in the second half. Two main factors in the outcome of this game were the fact that Auburn couldn’t connect from the line or from three-point range. Auburn hit only 16 of their 27 free throws, which could have been a big boost, since Vandy only went to the charity stripe 16 times. But what truly proved to be the deciding factor that kept the Commodores in this game was the fact that Auburn went 0-for-13 from behind the arc. If the Tigers had connected on even a few of those treys, this game could have had an entirely different outcome. Vandy won the battle on the boards 40-31, but committed 19 turnovers to Auburn’s 14.
A big boost for the Commodores was in their bench play, which outscored the Tigers 22 to 7. Vanderbilt was led in scoring by sophomore guards Merideth Marsh and Jessica Mooney with 10 apiece, while 5’9” guard Jennifer Risper fought her way inside amongst the tall trees to pull down a game-high 15 rebounds. What makes this stat even more impressive is the fact that Risper was matched up against Auburn’s 6’6” Dewanna Bonner most of the evening. Bonner was Auburn’s only double-digit scorer with 23 points, and her 13 rebounds added yet another double-double to her career total.
Auburn finishes SEC play at 8-8 against conference foes and an overall record of 20-11. It remains to be seen whether Nell Fortner’s Tigers receive an NCAA bid or whether they will be playing in the WNIT, but look for this squad to make it to post-season play.
Up next for Vanderbilt: a semifinal shootout with the Tennessee Vols.
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