#15 Vanderbilt Bests Big Green

Saturday, November 18

Nashville, Tenn.

5:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

Vanderbilt

Dartmouth Drops Heartbreaker at Quinnipiac

11/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ?The 15^th ranked Vanderbilt women's basketball team came out on top of a physical ball game, 79-49. The Big Green falls to 0-2 on the season while the Commodores remain a perfect 3-0.

“I am disappointed with our missed free throws and turnovers, but this is a good test for our young team to come play against a big-time opponent,” said Head Coach Chris Wielgus. “We were delighted to bring Ashley Taylor home.”

Dartmouth opened the game with a triple by senior guard Ashley Taylor (Cookeville, Tenn.), who was playing in front of a sizeable hometown crowd. The Big Green extended its lead to 5-1, the biggest advantage it would have all night, after a nice move in the paint by Fatima Kamara (Carrollton, Texas) at 18:19.

Vanderbilt soon flexed its muscles, going on a 17-2 run from that point until rookie Margaret Smith (Ft. Worth, Texas) converted a conventional three point play to take it to 18-10, Vanderbilt at 10:20. Smith's bucket kicked off a 7-0 run for the Big Green, who pulled to within 18-14 after a Kristen Craft (Marshalltown, Iowa) triple.

Carla Thomas and Merideth Marsh powered the Commodores for the rest of the half, extending their lead to 32-19 at 3:06. Dartmouth continued to fight, matching Vanderbilt point-for-point during the balance of the half, but the Commodores closed with a last-second triple by Jessica Mooney to go up 41-27 at the break.

The Big Green out-rebounded the Commodores, 14-13 for the half, but also committed 14 costly turnovers and shot just 50 percent from the free-throw line. Foul trouble for the Dartmouth post players also proved a difficult hurdle to overcome.

Vanderbilt came out on fire in the second half, holding the Big Green without a made field goal until 15:57, when junior Sydney Scott (Houston, Texas) hit a mid-range jumper to bring it to 53-30.

The Commodores went on a 15-3 run in the first seven minutes of the half, finally stopped by a made free throw by Taylor at 13:24, with Vanderbilt up 57-31. Taylor kept it up, converting a three-point play after a very hard foul. Sophomore Koren Schram (Batesville, Ark.) hit a pair of triples to make it 61-41 at 10:04, but Vanderbilt proved too strong late in the game, closing on an 18-8 run.

The Big Green had some nice defensive stops late in the game, but struggled offensively and continued to miss its free-throws, allowing Vanderbilt to finish with the 79-49 win.

“It is good for us to see how people play in different parts of the country and in the power conferences,” said Wielgus.

Schram and Taylor led Dartmouth with 11 points a piece and combined for seven rebounds. Schram posted a new career-high over the previous six point mark. Craft was Dartmouth's leading rebounder with six.

Vanderbilt's Carla Thomas used her size to exploit Dartmouth's foul-trouble, coming away with 21 points and six boards. No other Vanderbilt player scored in double-figures.

The Big Green will take on Marist in a pre-Thanksgiving showdown at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22 in Poughkeepsie.