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2008-09 Season review Vanderbilt’s 2008-09 Record At a Glance
The 2008-09 Commodores pose with male practice players during the postseason banquet in April. Vanderbilt in sweet 16 again • The Dores made their second consecutive trip to The Pit in Albuquerque as a No. 4 regional seed, defeating No. 13 Western Carolina and No. 5 Kansas State to advance to the Sweet 16. • Vanderbilt made its 22nd overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and its 10th consecutive trip since 2000. The Commodores are 10-0 in first round games during that stretch. • Commodores reached the regional semifinals (Sweet 16) for the second straight season and the 14th time overall, narrowly missing an upset of top-seeded Maryland.
digit outputs on their way to winning the 2009 SEC Tournament. • Against Georgia, VU held floor leader Ashley Houts to just three points -- a season low and well below her 12.2 ppg average. • LSU’s Alison Hightower only managed to score six points in the semifinals. Hightower averages 14.3 ppg and had scored in double figures in 15 straight games. • In the championship game, Auburn senior DeWanna Bonner managed only nine points. It tied a season-low for Bonner, who averages 21 ppg. The 5-9 Risper was matched up on the 6-4 Bonner for most of the game.
Dores’ Sixth Tourney win earns SEC’s Automatic Berth • The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team won its sixth Southeastern Conference Tournament championship on March 8 with a 61-54 victory over No. 6 Auburn in North Little Rock, Ark. • The Commodores have won the tournament four times in the past eight seasons, and in two of the last three years. • Vanderbilt was responsible for two of the Tigers’ four losses on the season, and has won 15th straight over Auburn. • The victory was Vanderbilt’s fourth win over a Top 10 opponent. • Senior Christina Wirth was named the SEC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player after scoring 61 points in three days while playing all 120 minutes of the tournament.
VU TRIO honored by sec coaches • The SEC’s 12 coaches selected Christina Wirth as the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while naming Jennifer Risper the Defensive Player of the Year. • Wirth was one of five unanimous choices for first-team All-SEC, earning a spot on the eight-member team for the second year. • Wirth is the seventh Commodore to earn first-team league accolades consecutively. Dee Davis, a 2007 grad, was the most recent. • Risper is the first Commodore to earn SEC Defensive Player of the Year in the award’s sixth season. • The 5-9 guard also earned second-team All-SEC honors for the second straight year, and was an All-Tournament selection. • Junior Merideth Marsh was named second-team All-SEC after netting 13.9 points per game against SEC foes while leading the league in three-point shooting accuracy.
defense wins a championship • Led by SEC Defensive Player of the Year Jennifer Risper, the Commodores held three of the SEC’s most potent scorers to single-
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2008-09 Season Review
Overall.............................................26-9 Home Games..............................15-1 Road Games.................................6-7 Neutral Sites..................................5-1 SEC Games....................................10-4 Home.............................................7-0 Road..............................................3-4 Non-Conference Games................. 11-4 Home.............................................8-1 Road..............................................3-3 Neutral...........................................0-0 Postseason Games...........................5-1 Overtime Games...............................1-0 Day Games.....................................12-5 Night Games...................................14-4 November..........................................6-1 December..........................................5-2 January..............................................5-2 February............................................5-2 March.................................................5-2 April...................................................0-0 Monday..............................................2-0 Tuesday.............................................1-1 Wednesday........................................1-0 Thursday...........................................5-2 Friday.................................................5-0 Saturday............................................2-3 Sunday............................................10-3 Television.........................................10-4 vs. Ranked Teams.............................5-3 vs. Unranked Teams........................21-6 VU Scores First...............................17-4 Opp. Scores First..............................9-5 Leading at Halftime.........................24-4 Trailing/Tied at Halftime.....................2-5 Leading with 10 Minutes.................25-1 Tied with 10 Minutes.........................1-2 Trailing with 10 Minutes.....................0-6 Leading with 5 Minutes...................26-1 Tied with 5 Minutes...........................0-1 Trailing with 5 Minutes.......................0-7 VU Shoots 50% or Better..................9-0 Opponent Shoots 50% or Better.......2-0 VU Outrebounds/ties Opponent......17-3 Opponent Outrebounds VU...............9-6 VU has fewer/same turnovers.........24-6 Opponent has fewer turnovers..........2-3 VU Makes More Threes..................16-4 Opp. Makes More/Same Threes.....10-5