No. 21 Vanderbilt downs Kentucky to open tourney
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Vanderbilt Commodores are turning the Gaylord Entertainment Center into a very comfortable home away from home.
Abi Ramsey scored 14 points, and No. 21 Vanderbilt downed Kentucky 60-41 Thursday night in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament. The Commodores improved to 5-0 in this arena a few miles from their own gym back on campus.
“Vanderbilt’s undefeated in this gym,” senior Hillary Hager said. “It’s a lot of confidence. We have a lot of confidence playing here and a good feeling about it.”
Vanderbilt won this tournament here with three straight victories in 2002, and now the seventh-seeded Commodores (21-7) will play 19th-ranked Auburn in the second round Friday night.
Jenni Benningfield added 12 points for Vanderbilt, and Hager added 11.
Kentucky (11-17) ended its first season under coach Mickie DeMoss with its worst shooting performance — 26.2 percent. DeMoss said the Wildcats ran into a very hot team and lost their confidence after missing early shots.
“We went inside early, and we couldn’t convert,” DeMoss said. “Then we had to start relying on some outside shots, and those weren’t falling either.
“We tried to get to the line and couldn’t finish off penetration. It just wasn’t a good offensive night for the Wildcats,”
Sese Helm made the first of two free throws in the opening minute, and that was the only time Kentucky led. The Wildcats fell to 0-9 against ranked opponents this season.
Benningfield scored, and Hager added a 3-pointer for a 5-1 lead, and Vanderbilt just kept building on that en route to its fifth straight victory and eighth straight against Kentucky. The Wildcats missed nine of their first 10 shots with Helm going 0-for-5 and Sara Potts hitting just one of her first five.
Potts had 17 points for the Wildcats.
“We worked really hard on pressuring the basketball and not giving, especially Potts and people, open looks, and Helm,” Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. “The biggest thing I think we got better in the second half rebounding and checking out and not giving them a chance at second and third shots.”
Freshman Carla Thomas also blocked six shots even though she had only seven points after scoring in double figures in 14 games this season.
“I thought she was going to set an NCAA record tonight for blocked shots,” DeMoss said.
Vanderbilt quickly led by 10 points and was up 33-20 at halftime off another 3-pointer from Hager, the SEC’s fourth-best 3-point shooter.
Kentucky made just 16 of 61 shots. The Wildcats’ previous low in shooting had been 28.4 percent in a loss to Georgia in January.
The Wildcats’ best stop came at the opening of the second half, when they forced Vanderbilt into a shot clock violation. But the Wildcats didn’t help themselves, missing seven of their first 10 shots after the break.
Vanderbilt came in as the nation’s third-best 3-point shooting team, and the Commodores hit 8-of-21, which was more than enough. They eventually led by as much as 60-36 on a pair of free throws by Katy Antony with 4:41 to go.