When the Vanderbilt women's basketball team last played against Alabama in January, the Commodores built a large lead only to see it slip away as they narrowly defeated the Crimson Tide.
Not this time.
It was all Commodores as Vanderbilt (17-5, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) defeated Alabama soundly by a score of 88-64 on Sunday afternoon. In a game they could have easily taken for granted, the Commodores, tied for first in the SEC, dominated last place Alabama, winless in conference, in all aspects of the game, holding them to 41 percent shooting and consistently forcing the Tide (12-10, 0-7) to turn the ball over on shot clock violations.
Coach Melanie Balcomb, displeased Thursday after Vanderbilt nearly gave the game away against Arkansas, was happier Sunday.
"We were clean, we had good shot selection, and we had stops," she said.
Christina Wirth, Vanderbilt's do-everything senior, had another stellar day pacing the club with 21 points. Junior guard Meredith Marsh, who scored a career-high 21 points in her last game against Arkansas, kept up her momentum as she dropped in 17 points while hitting all five of her shots from beyond the arc.
"Tina and Meredith played really well today," Balcomb said. "They got a lot of really good looks."
Chanel Chisholm chipped in 10 points off the bench.
While the Commodore offense was clicking on all cylinders, their swarming defense was just as effective.
The Commodores took a 24-point lead going into halftime, and while they weren't as crisp and dominant as they were in the first half, it was clear that Alabama had little chance of coming back.
"Our play was definitely better than Arkansas, but we weren't extremely happy with our second half," Marsh said. "We focused on transition defense and we didn't do that in the second half."
Despite the slight letdown, the Commodores proved that they are still the class of the SEC. And for any team who thinks that they can get in the way, watch out: Wirth's already outstanding shooting is "just starting to feel good again."
Vanderbilt plays next at Mississippi State on Thursday at seven, followed by a Sunday road trip to Kentucky at noon.
