2008–09 Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team

The 2008–09 Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Commodores are a member of the Southeast Conference and competed in the Sweet Sixteen at the NCAA Tournament. It was the Commodores 14th appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16 after earning its sixth Southeastern Conference Tournament championship.

2008–09 Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball
SEC Tournament Champions
NCAA Women's Division I Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
ConferenceSoutheast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 8[1]
2008–09 record26-9 ( SEC)
Head coachMelanie Balcomb
Assistant coaches
  • Vicky Picott
  • Kim Rosamond
Home arenaMemorial Gymnasium
2008–09 SEC women's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 8 Auburn122 .857  304  .882
No. 14 Vanderbilt104 .714  269  .743
LSU104 .714  1911  .633
No. 22 Florida95 .643  248  .750
No. 18 Tennessee95 .643  2211  .667
Mississippi State86 .571  2310  .697
Georgia77 .500  1814  .563
Arkansas68 .429  1814  .563
Ole Miss59 .357  1815  .545
Kentucky59 .357  1616  .500
South Carolina212 .143  1018  .357
Alabama113 .071  1317  .433
2009 SEC Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Exhibition

DateLocationOpponentCommodores PointsOpp. PointsRecord
Nov. 2/08NashvilleTusculum98401-0
Nov. 7/08NashvilleLove & Basketball83742-0

[2]

Regular season

  • February 15: The Commodores wore pink jerseys to commemorate North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow. Christina Wirth scored 21 points to lead five players in double figures as the Commodores defeated Georgia 80-64. The other players in double figures were Merideth Marsh, who had 18 points, while Jennifer Risper, Hannah Tuomi and Tia Gibbs each had 10. Danielle Taylor led Georgia with 20 points in 32 minutes off the bench. Angel Robinson added 17.[3] Vanderbilt used a 17-3 second-half run to take the lead for good. The score was tied 47-47 when Wirth made a jump shot as Marsh was fouled away from the ball. Marsh made both free throws to complete the four-point sequence and then scored the final five points of the run with a layup and three free throws.

Roster

NumberNameHeightPositionClass
11Ashlee Bridge5-11Guard/ForwardJunior
12Jordan Coleman5-11ForwardFreshman
5Lauren Lueders5-8GuardJunior
23Merideth Marsh5-6GuardJunior
20Jessica Mooney5-8GuardJunior
4Angela Puleo5-9GuardSophomore
22Jence Rhoads5-11GuardSophomore
2Jennifer Risper5-9GuardSenior
33Rebecca Silinski6-3ForwardSophomore
15Hannah Tuomi6-1ForwardSophomore
34Christina Wirth6-1ForwardSenior

Schedule

DateLocationOpponentCommodores PointsOpp. PointsRecord
Nov. 14/08NashvilleTexas A&M Corpus Christi85511-0
Nov. 16/08Bowling Green, KYWestern Kentucky90722-0
Nov. 19/08NashvilleEastern Kentucky80383-0
Nov. 21/08Johnson City, TNEast Tennessee State66554-0
Nov. 23/08Ann Arbor, MIMichigan42504-1
Nov. 28/08NashvilleDavidson82505-1
Nov. 29/08NashvilleVirginia Tech72436-1
Dec. 2/08NashvilleRadford78417-1
Dec. 4/08Fullerton, CACal-State Fullerton83678-1
Dec. 6/08Riverside, CAUC Riverside47508-2
Dec. 19/08NashvilleTennessee State98829-2
Dec. 21/08NashvilleTennessee-Martin862910-2
Dec. 22/08NashvilleLiberty675011-2
Dec. 30/08NashvilleNotre Dame575912-2
Jan. 3/09Ames, IowaIowa State515511-3
Jan. 8/09Tuscaloosa, ALAlabama857612-3
Jan. 11/09NashvilleTennessee Lady Vols745813-3
Jan. 18/09NashvilleLSU756714-3
Jan. 22/09Athens, GAGeorgia5566
Jan. 25/09Columbia, SCSouth Carolina6656
Jan. 29/09NashvilleArkansas7261
Feb. 1/09NashvilleAlabama8864
Feb. 5/09Starkville, MSMississippi State6166
Feb. 8/09Lexington, KYKentucky7262
Feb. 12/09NashvilleFlorida8468
Feb. 15/09NashvilleGeorgia8064

[4]

Player stats

PlayerGames PlayedMinutesField GoalsThree PointersFree ThrowsReboundsAssistsBlocksStealsPoints
Christina Wirth351176212807819874852582
Hannah Tuomi2868214303416627525320
Merideth Marsh35112212481458662030374
Jennifer Risper35103111709219999481326
Jessica Mooney3570488145979831750249
Jence Rhoads35102884152811321242221
Tia Gibbs293725224197117323147
Chanel Chisholm343876404310014835171
Lauren Lueders2418621145312611161
Jordan Coleman1910810093210229
Ashlee Bridge14924091633217
Rebecca Silinski83030150017
Amy Malo191074041646112

[5]

Postseason

SEC Tournament

  • Vanderbilt 69, Georgia 61
  • Vanderbilt 61, LSU 47
  • Vanderbilt 61, Auburn 54

[2]

March 8: The Commodores earned the SEC Tournament crown for sixth time in school history. In the championship game, Christine Wirth scored 20 points, and the Commodores (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) beat Auburn (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) 61-54 to win the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Vanderbilt (24-8) defeated the Tigers (29-3) for the second time in three weeks to win the SEC tournament. Vanderbilt also extended its winning streak over Auburn to 15. Auburn star DeWanna Bonner was held to nine points after scoring a combined 58 in her first two games of the tournament. Whitney Boddie led the Tigers with 14 points and eight assists. This was the 10th straight year the No. 1 seed has failed to win the SEC tournament. Wirth was named the tournament's most valuable player while Jennifer Risper also made the all-tournament squad. Vanderbilt has the second-most SEC tournament titles of any program, trailing only Tennessee's 13.[6]

NCAA Basketball Tournament

Seeding in brackets

  • Raleigh Regional - Raleigh, NC
    • Vanderbilt (4) 73, Western Carolina (13) 44
    • Vanderbilt 74, Kansas State (5) 61
    • Maryland (1) 78, Vanderbilt 74

[7]

Awards and honors

  • Christina Wirth, All-Senior All-America First Team by the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award committee.[8]
  • Christina Wirth, All-SEC Honors
  • Christina Wirth, SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player [6]
  • Christina Wirth, SEC All-Tournament Team
  • Christina Wirth, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year.[9]
  • Christina Wirth has received honorable mention on the 2009 State Farm Coaches' All-America Team [10]
  • Jennifer Risper, SEC All-Tournament Team
  • Jennifer Risper, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year.[9]
  • Jennifer Risper, The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) has selected Vanderbilt's Jennifer Risper as the WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year.[11]

Team players drafted into the WNBA

RoundPickPlayerWNBA Club
219Christina WirthIndiana Fever
329Jennifer RisperChicago Sky

[12]

See also

References

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