Believe it or not, there was a time Vanderbilt-Tennessee was the biggest rivalry in women’s basketball. Before Tim Corbin arrived and brought the baseball team to national prominence, Commodore women’s basketball was considered the flagship program for Vanderbilt athletics. Vandy was competing for SEC titles every year and consistently making deep NCAA tournament runs, even reaching a Final Four in 1993. To the east was a Tennessee program that would be the biggest brand in the sport for decades. The rivalry became so popular, the two programs decided to add a second nonconference regular season game to the schedule beginning in 1993-94.
And every year since they’ve played twice in the regular season… until now. With expanded SEC scheduling, the game Sunday at 2:00 at Memorial Gym will be the only time Vandy faces the Lady Vols in the regular season which just underscores how the rivalry has lost some luster over the years. While this matchup may not have the same stakes as those Pat Summitt/Jim Foster battles in the 90’s, this is still a big game for two programs trying to claw their way back into the national spotlight.
After starting the season 14-1, the Commodores are suddenly reeling with three straight losses. Vandy was embarrassed at home by Kentucky and on the road against Ole Miss. But if you’re looking for a silver lining, they looked much more like the great team we were expecting in their last outing. Even in defeat, Vandy went toe to toe with the best team they’ve played all season – a legit championship contender — in a hostile environment before falling 83-77.
The Lady Vols also started the season hot, winning their first 13 games before dropping two tough last-second losses at home to a pair of top 10 teams – Oklahoma and LSU. They have since rebounded with a pair of impressive wins at Arkansas and at home against Mississippi State.
Tennessee has a new coach in Kim Caldwell so it will be her first time coaching in the rivalry… that is, assuming she makes it to the game. If you aren’t aware, she is pregnant and according to reports her due date is January 20 – the day after this contest adding a potential wrinkle to this game.
Caldwell comes to the Lady Vols after previously coaching at Marshall and represents the program’s first departure from the Summitt coaching tree. That fact quickly becomes apparent in watching this version of the Lady Vols as her team’s style of play bears little resemblance to traditional Tennessee teams. While the Summitt system never embraced the three-point shot, Caldwell’s team will fire away – a lot of them. The Lady Vols easily leads the SEC in three pointers and three-point attempts per game.
Caldwell has managed to build a talented roster in the offseason through the transfer portal, including a couple from other SEC programs. High school All-American Talaysia Cooper was riding the bench for an absurdly talented South Carolina team but has emerged as the leader for the Lady Vols, averaging 18.2 points and 5.7 rebounds. Point guard Samara Spencer, who was the SEC freshman of the Year at Arkansas, is her team’s sparkplug. She is third in the conference with 5.5 assists per game.
Tennessee doesn’t shoot the ball exceptionally well – 45% from the field, 34% from three, and only 66% from the line and yet they lead the SEC in scoring with a whopping 96 points per game. They do this by dictating a fast tempo and generating significantly more shot attempts than the opposition – both by crashing the boards (20.3 offensive rebounds per leads SEC), and constant pressure and forcing turnovers (14.1 steals per game leads the SEC).
That combination doesn’t bode well for a Commodore team that has struggled with rebounding and taking care of the ball in conference play. Vandy has been outrebounded in every SEC game, and you can point to LSU’s unbelievable 45-25 rebounding advantage as the single biggest reason the Commodores lost a close game.
After an incredible start to the conference season, freshman Mikayla Blakes finally looked like a freshman against the Tigers. Blakes shot only 4-13 from the field, missed all four of her three-point attempts, and coughed up 9 turnovers. Pressuring Blakes will likely be a focal point of Tennessee’s defense.
Blakes will need to rebound from that performance and star Khamil Pierre will need to play like Khamil Pierre for the Commodores to have a chance. They will also need more scoring options to step up and help them. Senior guard Iyanna Moore hasn’t shot particularly well this season, but fortunately it looks like she may be getting her mojo back. She had 23 points and 5 three pointers against the Tigers.
One factor working in Vandy’s favor was having no mid-week game so Ralph will have a little more time to prepare and hopefully scheme around her team’s deficiencies. It would also be helpful to have a lot of black and gold show up in the stands to help drown out the sea of orange that will inevitably permeate into the gym. This game will cap an orange doubleheader this weekend with the men coming to Nashville for a Saturday afternoon contest. Vandy will need all the Memorial Magic it can muster to pull off an orange sweep.
