Sunday, January 11, 2009

Vanderbilt grabs just 7th win ever over Lady Vols

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jessica Mooney led five Commodores in double figures with 15 points, and 24th-ranked Vanderbilt beat No. 7 Tennessee 74-58 on Sunday for only their seventh win all-time in this interstate rivalry and coach Melanie Balcomb's first in her seventh season here.

Tennessee (12-3, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) has simply dominated this series between schools separated by 190 miles along Interstate 40, winning the last 16 and 52 of the first 58 by the Lady Vols' count. This loss keeps coach Pat Summitt stuck on 995 wins as she closes in on 1,000 for her career.

But Vanderbilt (13-4, 2-0) was the preseason pick to win the Southeastern Conference title, and the Commodores used their speed and experience to grab their first win over the Lady Vols since Feb. 2, 2002, also on their home floor at Memorial Gym.

Jennifer Risper and Hannah Tuomi each had 12 for Vanderbilt. Merideth Marsh added 11, and Christina Wirth had 10.

Alex Fuller led the Lady Vols with 12.

These teams last met in the SEC tournament semifinals with the Lady Vols winning by 25 before winning their second straight national championship and eighth overall.

The Lady Vols came in having won five straight, a streak that included a comeback from 23 down at Rutgers on Jan. 3. But Summitt has a much younger team this season, starting three freshmen and a sophomore. That makes Vandy seem grizzled in comparison with two seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup.

The teams swapped the lead in the first half before the Commodores blew open the game by finishing the period with a 12-0 run for a 31-23 lead at halftime. They took the lead on Jence Rhoads' basket with 2:22 left at 25-23, taking advantage as Tennessee went scoreless after Johnson scored with 4:40 to go.

Vanderbilt stayed hot in the second half and pushed its lead to 38-25 as Wirth hit a 3-pointer from the right corner in front of her bench.

Angie Bjorklund's 3 pulled Tennessee within 47-42 with 10:51 left. Tuomi hit two free throws, then Risper drove the lane for a layup as the Commodores scored nine of the next 10 points.

Then the Commodores just kept padding their lead and were up as much as 21 twice. They just missed matching their biggest win over Tennessee, a 17-point margin back in 2002.

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