14th-ranked Vanderbilt officially received its 10th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid Monday night, earning the No. 4 seed in the Raleigh region. The Commodores (24-8) will face Southern Conference champion and 13th-seeded Western Carolina (21-11) in the first round in Albuquerque on Saturday, March 21.
Vanderbilt players, coaches and practice team members gathered in the Admiral Room at Memorial Gym to watch the NCAA Selection Show, cheering when their seeding was announced.
Coach Melanie Balcomb was asked if she thought the seeding was fair.
"I thought that's where we belonged," she said. "I thought we'd be close to maybe getting the last 3 or the first 4. I don't know how that fell out, but I think 4 is very fair."
Junior guard Merideth Marsh also thought it was appropriate.
"I would say right now, ending how we ended with the SEC championship, that a 4 is a respectable seed for us," Marsh said. "I think we earned a spot and they respected that, so I'm happy with it."
It was a bit of deja vu for the Commodores, as they played their first two rounds in Albuquerque last year, also as a 4 seed. Maryland is again the No. 1 seed in their bracket this season; the Terrapins eliminated Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16 last season.
"We had a good experience there. Once you get on a court that you feel good about, that you've had success on, you're going to feel that and think that," Balcomb said. "It's just something that's familiar with us as opposed to going somewhere that's unfamiliar."
Vanderbilt stumbled at the end of the regular season, losing road games to Ole Miss and Tennessee before storming to its third SEC Tournament championship since 2004. Despite not having sophomore forward Hannah Tuomi, the team's best post player, due to a stress fracture in her left ankle, Balcomb feels good about where her team is at due to the players' hard work in Tuomi's absence.
"I feel like we have momentum right now. You find out what a team's made of with adversity," Balcomb said. "I think it's making people work harder, step up."
With a long layoff between games, practices have been about staying in playing shape.
"In the past, we've kind of let (momentum) die in this period," Marsh said. "It's a long period when we're not doing anything, so we have to make every practice seem like a game, so when the game's actually there, then it's easier."
"I feel good about the work ethic that I'm getting every day in practice. They're really working hard for each other, (they) want to keep playing," Balcomb said. "And if you want to keep playing in March, those are the teams that do well."
