It may sound strange to say, but the 14th-ranked Vanderbilt women's basketball team has fond memories of a place called The Pit.
Just know that The Pit is a basketball court in Albuquerque, and actually it'd be more appropriate to say the Commodores have sweet memories, as it's the site of Vanderbilt's romp to the Sweet 16 in last year's NCAA's.
The Commodores (24-8) return to their home away from home for the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, where, as a No. 4 seed, they will battle 13th-seeded Western Carolina (21-11) at Bob King Court.
"I think that's kind of neat," said senior forward Christina Wirth. "I've never heard of that happening, a team going back to their home court if you want to call that for us, so we're kind of excited."
The Commodores, also a No. 4 seed last year, ripped through Montana and West Virginia in the first and second rounds last season in Albuquerque before being eliminated by top-seeded Maryland in Spokane, Washington.
Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb was enthusiastic at the prospect of returning to the site of last year's mile-high success; Albuquerque has an unusually high elevation that can be difficult to adjust to for some teams.
"We had a good experience there, a positive experience," Balcomb said. "We're 2-0 in Albuquerque. We're familiar with the altitude and the court and the gym and have good feelings about it, positive feelings."
For Vanderbilt, another part of staying in a good place mentally has been maintaining the strong play from its run to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship. The championship game against Auburn was on March 8, meaning it will have been 13 days between games for the Commodores by the time they play the Lady Catamounts.
With that in mind, junior guard Merideth Marsh has said Vanderbilt has put a particular emphasis in its preparations on staying in a game-like mentality.
"What we've been doing is trying to keep the momentum going and making practices really hard, short, crisp," Marsh said.
"I think that we have the right intensity, a kind of sense of urgency at this point in the season," Wirth said.
Wirth has certainly shown that urgency in her final year with the Commodores. In addition to earning MVP honors for the SEC Tournament, she has been named an All-SEC First Team member, an Academic All-American and a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
Still, with the NCAA Tournament starting, any game could be the last one for her, and Wirth and her teammates want to make every one count.
"I wouldn't call it pressure or any added nervousness," Wirth said. "I think at this point you've played so many basketball games you know what to do. You're not worried about it. But at the same time you don't want any regrets so you're just going to lay it all out there."
Balcomb has taken notice of that attitude in her players.
"I just like the way we've responded to adversity," she said. "They're really working hard for each other and want to keep playing. And if you want to keep playing in March, those are the teams that do well."
