Vanderbilt heading to round of 16
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Coach Melanie Balcomb believes her two senior leaders have something to do with the progress.
Jenni Benningfield and Hillary Hager each scored all of their 12 points in the second half to lift the second-seeded Commodores to a 60-44 win over Chattanooga in the second round of the Midwest Regional on Monday night.
“This team is a lot different than last year’s. We have different strengths and weaknesses,” Benningfield said. “This team really works hard. We’re not satisfied.”
Vanderbilt is making its 11th appearance in the regional semifinals and will play Stanford on Sunday.
Balcomb was happy with her team’s defense for the entire game, but she was concerned about the offense at halftime.
So Hager and Benningfield took over, combining to score 14 of Vanderbilt’s first 18 points of the second half.
“I don’t think either one wants their college career to end,” Balcomb said. “You need that in close games and in hostile crowds. That goes a long way — that desire.”
It also helped that freshman center Carla Thomas rebounded from a poor outing in the first-round win over Lipscomb. She played only 14 minutes and had no points.
Thomas led Vanderbilt on Monday with 15 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks.
“Confidence was the biggest difference in my game,” Thomas said. “I was upset with my play Saturday. I had to improve my game.”
The Commodores extended their winning streak to 10 games by ending the nation’s longest streak.
Tenth-seeded Chattanooga (29-3) had won 27 straight after upsetting No. 7 seed Rutgers 74-69 in the first round. It was the first NCAA tournament victory for a Southern Conference team and for the Lady Mocs in five tries.
Chattanooga was hoping to keep its dream season alive by winning again on its home court. The Lady Mocs had not lost in McKenzie Arena since Feb. 6, 2003, a span of 17 games.
Vanderbilt’s defense proved to be too much for Chattanooga, which was held to 27 percent shooting from the field.
“We had a hard time all night knowing how to attack it. Give them credit and whatever’s left over I’ll take the blame. We just didn’t get good looks and that’s the coach’s job,” Chattanooga coach Wes Moore said.
Reserve Miranda Warfield scored 12 while Katie Galloway added 11 points and Nicole Mattison had 11 rebounds for Chattanooga.
The Commodores led by just three at halftime but opened the second half with a decisive 18-3 run that pushed their lead to 45-27 with 12:40 remaining.
The Lady Mocs countered with an 8-0 run that cut the Commodores’ lead to 10 with 7:48 left.
Chattanooga’s fans roared, but Benningfield hit a layup to quiet the crowd.
The Lady Mocs scored again, and Benningfield followed with a driving layup and Hager had a 3 and a basket to restore Vanderbilt’s lead to 16 with 4:21 to go.
Chattanooga made a final push when Galloway and Warfield hit back-to-back 3-pointers to reduce the lead to 12 with 3:12 remaining, but the Lady Mocs ran out of time.