December 30th, 2015: Vanderbilt at Fordham (Fordham Holiday Classic)

Just the Facts, Ma'am: In an offensively challenged game, Vanderbilt came away with the 53-40 win over Fordham to win the Fordham Holiday Classic. Minta Spears had 11 points to lead the Commodores, with Rebekah Dahlman adding 10 off the bench. Samantha Clark and Hannah Missry each had 11 to pace the Rams.

For all kinds of ugly, penance, bad shots, bad beats, questionable passes, a lack of field goals, and bleeding from the eyes, join your intrepid and penitent blogger after the jump.


Now that we're done with the undercard, it's on to the title fight. Vanderbilt's wearing their road black with the champagne gold trim, the Vanderbilt star on each leg of the shorts. Fordham, of course, wears their home white, trimmed in maroon.

I have no idea who she is, but Rayte'a Long has my new favorite Twitter handle: @Fine_N_Vandy. I approve of puns and school pride.

More people are drifting in now. It only makes sense that the home team draws the most fans, but I wish people had come for the first game for the sake of seeing free basketball.

Entire sections and rows free, and y'all really have to come sit in front of me? Like, really?

Fordham concessions, how do you manage to screw up Diet Coke? Bottled Diet Coke?

Much friendliness between Stephanie Gaitley and Melanie Balcomb in pre-game handshakes.

At halftime, the score is 27-14, Vanderbilt. The second quarter was 6-3, and the three for Fordham came with something like five seconds left. ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?! Vanderbilt is committing procedural turnovers and could be committing more; Fordham can't hit water falling out of a boat. Rayte'a Long leads all scorers. With 7. I have not had enough vodka for this game.

The scoring picked up somewhat in the second half, but if it had managed to drop, there would be a giant crater in the splintered hardwood of Rose Hill Gymnasium.

Kendall Shaw played briefly in the first half, when Marqu'es Webb was taken out for repeated three-second violations and her refusal to not shoot directly into the body of Samantha Clark. Shaw promptly committed the same violation, and I'm not terribly surprised we didn't see her again. Kristen Gaffney got a little grabby down low- not to the extent that the Fordham faithful thought she did, but a fair amount. Marqu'es Webb filled up space in the paint on both ends of the floor, setting screens and getting boards.

Morgan Batey's baskets came at timely moments for the Commodores. Rebekah Dahlman has a really pretty stroke, but when she first came into the game, she made her mark on defense, playing strong on the ball. She's somebody I'd like to see come into her own.

Minta Spears set the tone early for Vanderbilt with two threes to open the scoring. She roamed the perimeter on both ends of the floor. Rachel Bell was more active in the second half than the first, getting her points in the third quarter but also committing her fouls. There's something I like about Jasmine Jenkins- maybe it's just that she plays bigger than she is, that she plays fearlessly.

Christa Reed was kind of a tweener (which, to be fair, is something like half of Vanderbilt's schtick) but was able to hassle the Fordham guards effectively with her long arms. Rayte'a Long got comfortable in the lane (though, again, she wasn't in there as long as the Fordham faithful thought she was) and made some moves. She was just as good facilitating things by setting screens and running the offense as she was going to the hoop. I don't think I'd call it a point-forward offense per se- Spears seemed to have the traditional point guard role- but Long came off as the leader.

I really liked how communicative Vanderbilt was, both on the floor and on the bench. Lots of encouragement, lots of reminders. (Can I be petty about Balcomb's fashion sense, though? That jacket did not fit. I don't know if it ever did.)

Lauren Holden shows the promise of someday being a very good point guard. But that day was not today. Today was the day where she looked like a freshman who couldn't handle the pressure. Vanderbilt's defense came at her, and she wasn't ready. Danielle Padovano was at least willing to shoot, and she passed the ball well. She did a little of everything.

If you're wondering why I didn't do my usual split-out of the bench into guards and forwards, Fordham only played two bench players today. I don't necessarily agree with this decision.

Samantha Clark would be a WNBA prospect if she could just finish at the rim, I swear. She has the strength, and she has the build, but she just doesn't use it as much as she should. Drives me nuts when I see her make a power move and then blow the shot. She had some nice blocks, though. Danielle Burns rebounded well and bore down on defense. G'mrice Davis was a disappointment- she had such a strong freshman season, I was hoping to see her build on it. But so far, about midway through sophomore year, she looks like she's relying too much on her physical gifts and not enough on whatever basketball she's learned.

Asnate Fomina did a good job playing with four fouls after picking up the fourth foul in the third quarter. I was worried about her aggression, but she was able to back off in time. I like her poise. (Now, why she was playing extended minutes in the third and early fourth quarters with four fouls, you'll have to ask Stephanie Gaitley.) Hannah Missry looks like a shell of the shooter she once was; I think she's lost a lot of her confidence. She hesitates more than she used to. She's made her offensive game a little more flexible, but if she's not scoring, and scoring efficiently, she's not helping her team elsewhere on the floor.

The passing was very sloppy. A lot of balls went where players were supposed to be instead of where they were, or where they were going. They were careless with the ball, and no one was attempting to help the ballhandler when the Commodores swarmed on defense.

The officials didn't help either side- there was a lot of contact not getting called, and that's with a fair amount of whistles being blown. I thought the call that got reviewed for the out-of-bounds at 1:39 left of the fourth was actually off Davis, so Fordham caught a break there.

Why would you even cheat in a dizzy bat contest? All three of you suck for not spinning the appropriate number of times, and none of you should have gotten prizes.

I don't think either of these programs have adjusted to the new rules. I think Vanderbilt's in a better position to survive despite them.