Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball
| Vanderbilt Commodores | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| University | Vanderbilt University | |||
| Head coach | Stephanie White | |||
| Conference | Southeastern Conference | |||
| Arena | Memorial Gymnasium (capacity: 14,316) | |||
| Nickname | Commodores | |||
| Colors | Black and gold[1] | |||
| Uniforms | ||||
| ||||
| NCAA tournament Final Four | ||||
| 1993 | ||||
| NCAA tournament Elite Eight | ||||
| 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2002 | ||||
| NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen | ||||
| 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 | ||||
| NCAA tournament second round | ||||
| 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 | ||||
| NCAA tournament appearances | ||||
| 1982, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 | ||||
| Conference tournament champions | ||||
| 1993, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009 | ||||
The Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team represents Vanderbilt University in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Commodores have never won the SEC championship, although they have won six SEC tournament titles (1993, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2009); the SEC has awarded its official championship based solely on regular-season record since the 1985–86 season.[2] The current head coach is Stephanie White, who was head coach of the Indiana Fever when she was hired in 2016, and finished the 2016 WNBA season with the Fever.[3] White replaced Melanie Balcomb, who resigned after the 2015–16 season.[4]
Memorial Gymnasium
The Commodores play their home games in Memorial Gymnasium. Memorial Gymnasium was built in the early 1950s. It was dedicated as the campus memorial to students and alumni killed in World War II; a plaque commemorating those who died is displayed in the Gym's North lobby.
At the time of the Gym's construction, there was a serious discussion within the Vanderbilt community about whether the school should de-emphasize intercollegiate athletics and refocus on its academic program. As a compromise between those who advocated increased athletics competition and those who argued in favor of de-emphasis, the Gymnasium was built to hold only about 9,000 seats, and it would be readily adaptable to other uses—significantly, as a possible concert hall.
Consequently, the gymnasium floor was built up above its surroundings, more in the nature of a stage. The areas out of bounds along the sidelines were very wide, in contrast with the small facility which it replaced, where the walls were right along the sidelines and players could scrape their shoulders bringing the ball up the court. This necessitated the placement of the benches at the end of the court, which was not highly unusual at the time.
In addition, each goal was anchored by two far-reaching beams attached to support columns, with extra support coming from cables stretching all the way to the gym's ceiling. In the case of a backboard shatter or beam fracture, replacing these goals would be highly difficult, compared to the usual goal setup at most venues.
Memorial Gym is well known for its unusual design. The end-of-the-floor bench location is now unique in major college basketball, and SEC coaches who travel to Memorial, along with coaches from other schools who have played at Vanderbilt as a post-season venue, have said that the unusual setup gives Vanderbilt a tremendous home court advantage, since no other facility in which opponents play is arranged in such a way.[5]
Year by year results
Conference tournament winners noted with # Source[6]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | Coaches' poll | AP poll | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Pepper (Independent, SEC) (1977–1980) | |||||||||
| 1977-78 | Joe Pepper | 15–9 | – | ||||||
| 1978-79 | Joe Pepper | 11–16 | – | ||||||
| 1979-80 | Joe Pepper | 12–14 | – | ||||||
| Joe Pepper: | 38–39 | – | |||||||
| Phil Lee (Independent, SEC) (1980–1991) | |||||||||
| 1980-81 | Phil Lee | 12–16 | – | ||||||
| 1981-82 | Phil Lee | 20–14 | – | AIAW First Round | |||||
| 1982-83 | Phil Lee | 12–14 | 2–6 | 4th (SEC East) | |||||
| 1983-84 | Phil Lee | 23–9 | 2–6 | T-3rd (SEC East) | NWIT Champions | ||||
| 1984-85 | Phil Lee | 14–13 | 2–6 | 5th (SEC East) | |||||
| 1985-86 | Phil Lee | 22–9 | 4–5 | T-6th | NCAA Second Round (Bye) | 25 | 20 | ||
| 1986-87 | Phil Lee | 23–10 | 4–5 | 6th | NCAA Second Round (Bye) | 21 | 18 | ||
| 1987-88 | Phil Lee | 18–10 | 4–5 | 7th | |||||
| 1988-89 | Phil Lee | 21–8 | 5–4 | T-4th | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 1989-90 | Phil Lee | 23–11 | 5–4 | 5th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | 17 | |||
| 1990-91 | Phil Lee | 19–12 | 4–5 | T-5th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | 20 | |||
| Phil Lee: | 207–126 | 32–46 | |||||||
| Jim Foster (SEC) (1991–2002) | |||||||||
| 1991-92 | Jim Foster | 22–9 | 6–5 | T-4th | NCAA Elite Eight | 7 | 13 | ||
| 1992-93 | Jim Foster | 30–3 | 9–2 | T-2nd# | NCAA Final Four | 4 | 1 | ||
| 1993-94 | Jim Foster | 25–8 | 9–2 | 2nd | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | 13 | 12 | ||
| 1994-95 | Jim Foster | 28–7 | 8–3 | T-2nd# | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | 8 | 6 | ||
| 1995-96 | Jim Foster | 23–8 | 7–4 | T-3rd | NCAA Elite Eight | 7 | 12 | ||
| 1996-97 | Jim Foster | 20–11 | 6–6 | 6th | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | 17 | 20 | ||
| 1997-98 | Jim Foster | 20–9 | 9–5 | 4th | NCAA First Round | 25 | 18 | ||
| 1998-99 | Jim Foster | 13–14 | 6–8 | T-8th | |||||
| 1999-2000 | Jim Foster | 21–13 | 6–8 | T-6th | NCAA Second Round | 25 | |||
| 2000-01 | Jim Foster | 24–10 | 8–6 | T-6th | NCAA Elite Eight | 7 | 10 | ||
| 2001-02 | Jim Foster | 30–7 | 10–4 | T-2nd# | NCAA Elite Eight | 5 | 4 | ||
| Jim Foster: | 256–99 | 84–53 | |||||||
| Melanie Balcomb (SEC) (2002–2016) | |||||||||
| 2002-03 | Melanie Balcomb | 22–10 | 9–5 | T-5th | NCAA Second Round | 20 | 14 | ||
| 2003-04 | Melanie Balcomb | 26–8 | 8–6 | 4th# | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | 13 | 13 | ||
| 2004-05 | Melanie Balcomb | 24–8 | 10–4 | 3rd | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | 14 | 18 | ||
| 2005-06 | Melanie Balcomb | 21–11 | 8–6 | T-5th | NCAA Second Round | 22 | |||
| 2006-07 | Melanie Balcomb | 28–6 | 10–4 | T-3rd# | NCAA Second Round | 17 | 7 | ||
| 2007-08 | Melanie Balcomb | 25–9 | 11–3 | 3rd | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | 15 | 21 | ||
| 2008-09 | Melanie Balcomb | 26–9 | 10–4 | T-2nd# | NCAA Sweet Sixteen | 8 | 14 | ||
| 2009-10 | Melanie Balcomb | 23–11 | 9–7 | T-3rd | NCAA Second Round | 24 | |||
| 2010-11 | Melanie Balcomb | 20–12 | 10–6 | T-3rd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2011-12 | Melanie Balcomb | 23–10 | 9–7 | 7th | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2012-13 | Melanie Balcomb | 21–12 | 9–7 | 7th | NCAA Second Round | ||||
| 2013-14 | Melanie Balcomb | 18–13 | 7–9 | 8th | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2014-15 | Melanie Balcomb | 15–16 | 5–11 | T-11th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Melanie Balcomb | 18–14 | 5–11 | 11th | |||||
| Melanie Balcomb: | 310–149 | 120–90 | |||||||
| Stephanie White (SEC) (2016–present) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | Stephanie White | ||||||||
| Total: | 811–413 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Other awards and honors
- Elan Brown, 2010 All-SEC Rookie Team
- Tiffany Clarke, 2010 All-SEC Rookie Team
- Merideth Marsh, 2010 Second Team All-SEC
- Jence Rhodes, 2010 First Team All-SEC[7]
- Jennifer Risper, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year[8]
- Jennifer Risper, Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), National Defensive Player of the Year (2009)[9]
- Jennifer Risper, SEC All-Tournament Team (2009)
- Jennifer Risper, SEC All-Defensive Team (2008)
- Jennifer Risper, Second-team All-Southeastern Conference honouree (2008)
- Jennifer Risper, All-tournament honors at the 2007 Contra Costa Times in Berkeley, California
- Jennifer Risper, All-tournament selection (2007 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament.)
- Jennifer Risper, Female Newcomer of the Year honors among all Vanderbilt student-athletes (2006)
- Christina Wirth, Earned All-Tournament honors at the 2006 VU Holiday Classic.
- Christina Wirth, All-tournament honors at the 2007 Contra Costa Times Classic in Berkeley, Calif
- Christina Wirth, Most Valuable Player of the 2007 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament
- Christina Wirth, Named a first-team All-Southeastern Conference honoree (2008)
- Christina Wirth, Second-team recognition from the Associated Press (2008)
- Christina Wirth, Named preseason All-SEC by league coaches (first team) and writers (second team) (2008)
- Christina Wirth, Named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV third team(2008)[10]
- Christine Wirth, All-Senior All-America First Team by the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award committee.[11]
- Christine Wirth, All-SEC Honors
- Christine Wirth, SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player[12]
- Christine Wirth, SEC All-Tournament Team
- Christina Wirth has received honorable mention on the 2009 State Farm Coaches' All-America Team[13]
- Christina Wirth, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year[8]
Player awards
SEC Awards
- Chantelle Anderson - 2002
References
- ^ "Athletics". Vanderbilt University Brand Style Guide. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ "Championships: SEC Champions" (PDF). 2012–13 SEC Women's Basketball Media Guide. Southeastern Conference. p. 88. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
From 1980 to 1985, the SEC champion was the winner of the SEC Tournament. Since 1986, the SEC champion has been determined by the regular season schedule.
- ^ "Stephanie White named head coach of the Commodores" (Press release). Vanderbilt Commodores. May 24, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
- ^ "Vanderbilt's Melanie Balcomb out as women's basketball coach". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
- ^ "Column: Do you believe in magic?". www.vucommodores.com. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
- ^ "Media Guide" (PDF). Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 11 Aug 2013.
- ^ "Four Commodores earn SEC honors". cstv.com.
- ^ a b "The Vanderbilt Hustler". The Vanderbilt Hustler.
- ^ "Jennifer Risper named WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year". cstv.com.
- ^ "Christina Wirth Bio - Vanderbilt Official Athletic Site". cstv.com.
- ^ "Wirth An All-Senior All-American". cstv.com.
- ^ "Vanderbilt claims SEC Tournament title". cstv.com.
- ^ "Wirth named Honorable Mention All-American". cstv.com.
