Senior Christina Wirth was recently reminded of what she said a year ago after she and the fourth-seeded Commodores had been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by top-seeded Maryland.
"Someone sent me a quote that I said last year, just talking about how next year we're not going to be a young team. We're going to remember this feeling. We're going to build on it or something," Wirth said. "That's exactly how I feel right now."
She didn't need reminding.
None of the Commodores do, now that they get another shot at the Terrapins (30-4) Saturday night in Raleigh to avenge last year's season-ending loss.
"I remember that game perfectly," Wirth said. "They beat us. It's always exciting when you can play a team that beat you and try and get it back."
The similarity to last year's match-up is uncanny. Once again, Vanderbilt (26-8) is the No. 4 seed and Maryland is the No. 1 seed, and a berth in the regional final awaits the winner.
Last year, Maryland won with ease, taking a 15-point halftime advantage and leading by as many as 20 en route to an easy 80-66 victory. Wirth was held scoreless for almost the entire first half, and the Commodores shot just 38.7 percent from the field for the game, including an anemic 5-22 showing (23 percent) from beyond the arc.
So it goes without saying that Vanderbilt wants a little revenge.
Senior Jen Risper relishes getting a chance to take out the Terps.
"I would be lying if I said we weren't thinking about that," she said. "That team ended your season the previous year. And a lot of teams don't get to play that team again. We finally got an opportunity and I love the way it played out."
Wirth and Risper were the main cogs behind getting Vanderbilt to the regional semifinal, scoring 27 and 24 points, respectively, to lead the team to a 74-61 victory over Kansas State in the second round.
Despite two consecutive berths in the Sweet 16 and 10 straight bids to the NCAA Tournament, neither of the seniors feels their team gets a whole lot of credit from outsiders.
But, in their words, that's how they like it.
The players were asked how they thought the Terrapins reacted when they saw Vanderbilt was their next match-up.
"I have no idea. They might think, ǃÚ(they) don't have Hannah (Tuomi), (they) don't have a post," Risper said. "I don't think a lot of teams really respect us. I really don't care what they think anyway. I'm just excited to play them again."
"People don't give Vanderbilt a whole lot of respect in general. I think they're probably not looking at us too much," Wirth said. "More as just another team they have to play."
Wirth wants to make sure the vengeance aspect of the game doesn't distract from the task at hand for her and her teammates.
"We just want to keep playing," Wirth said. "They're just a team that's standing in our way, and in order to get to the Elite Eight where we want to go, we've got to get past them."
