The 2014-2015 Vanderbilt women’s basketball team. Photo cred – Vanderbilt Athletics
Season Overview
Coach Melanie Balcomb has a Commodore team without a senior on the roster this year. Last season saw the graduation of two All Conference guards in Christina Foggie and Jasmine Lister. Replacing nearly 34 points a game with players who are still learning their role and system is expected to be rocky at times. This is especially true while playing within the nation’s toughest conference, which includes three top ten teams and three others ranked within the top 25. Balcomb is relying upon her Top Ten freshman recruiting class heavily this year as well. Point guard Paris Kea averages 22 minutes per game in the back court while Canadian forward Audrey-Ann Goudreau is averaging right at 20 minutes per game. Guards Rachel Bell and Christa Reed are averaging just under 20 minutes per game too. With this type of early experience for these talented freshman while not graduating anyone from this year’s roster, expect the Commodores to be back near the top of the SEC next season.
Vanderbilt has notched some big victories this year, which includes giving James Madison one of their only two losses this year on December 29. They also defeated a Minnesota team that had spent time within the top 25 at times this year and is currently in the upper half of the BIG Conference. Vanderbilt now finds themselves with a 13-11 record and just a game back to be in the upper half of the SEC standings. Balcomb’s group will try to make a late season rally to earn a NCAA bid.
Game Recap January 11, 2015 Win versus Mississippi State 78-62
The biggest victory this season is the win versus the Bulldogs early in SEC Conference play, who were ranked No. 13 in the country at the time. The Commodores were able to jump out to quick 14-3 lead to start this game and never looked back. Junior wing Morgan Batey led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds on the night. Redshirt freshman guard Rebekah Dahlman added 17 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists while junior forward Heather Bowe scored 17 as well.
The key to the game for the Commodores was their quick start to the game. They stretched out a double digit lead and the Bulldogs would never come closer than 10 points after that. When studying the games early possessions, the common dominator in all of the scoring plays for the Commodores was the transition game. Defensive rebounds and quick outlets allowed Balcomb’s group to get out quickly for 3 on 2 situations. When the fast break opportunities did not materialize, the Commodores soundly broke into their secondary break and found easy baskets on the reversal passes.
Coach Balcomb spoke at the WBCA Convetion last April about her Secondary break offense. This is a part of the game that the Commodores work on from day one in their practices and continue to execute well into conference play.
CoachHemi.com Members can view those Notes here: Vandy’s WBB Secondary Break
Takeaways from the Commodores Transition Game
The Commodores won the game because of their field goal percentage. They shot over 60% from the floor for the game and only attempted three 3-point shots on the night. This is a great lesson for coaches and teams alike that easy shots can make for easy victories.- Mississippi State shot just a mere 32% from the floor on this night. The Commodores were active on the defensive end often extending screens or switching when necessary to push the Bulldog offense beyond the arc.
- Getting easy looks in transition or in the half court allows you to get to the free-throw line more often. Vanderbilt outscored the Bulldogs 33 to 17 from the foul line.
CoachHemi.com Members can View the Commodores Secondary Break Here:
Not a MEMBER yet? Become one today with a one time payment of $49 for twelve month access to the entire CoachHemi.com playbook by clicking HERE
[private]
FRAME 1: In this frame you see point guard Jasmine Jenkins beats the other guards up the floor, so she takes the ball to the wing. She finds the post open on the block. The opens up a natural cut here by Rebekah Dahlman down the lane for the score. NOTE: Look at the action away from the ball that keeps the help defense occupied to open the lane up.
FRAME 2: This shows the result of a quick outlet to the point guard who finds a guard open with a diagonal pass. The guard then skips it back to Rachel Bell who fills the opposite lane for an open 3.
FRAME 3: Here point guard Jasmine Jenkins probes the defense trying to make a play, but cannot make anything happen. She back dribble slightly and finds her outlet on the wing, who then finds the trailing 4 player for the open jumper. Another great example of how making the easy play and filling the lanes can open up scoring opportunities.
FRAME 4, 5, 6: This is a set play that they ran after an offense reset. I threw this as a bonus, but it can be ran out of a secondary look. Flashing the post to the high post area, the shooting guard makes an immediate basket cut. The point guard here walks her defender down to set up the hand-off, which she does very slowly. After the hand-off the wing takes a step towards the ball as if to prepare for another hand-off and then quickly cuts backdoor. This leads to another score.
[/private]
Jonathan Hemingway is the owner of Coach Hemingway Basketball, Inc. Hemingway is on the Board of Selectors for the Naismith Trophy. He has worked within the basketball community since 1995 as a coach, camp director and journalist. He works as the assistant director of scouting for the JumpOffPlus.com and the OTRHoopsReport.com, which are scouting reports that service over 200 college and universities nationwide. Reach him via email at JonathanHemingway@PeachStateBasketball.com.
