The 2008–09 Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Commodores were a member of the Southeast Conference and competed in the Sweet Sixteen at the NCAA Tournament. It was the Commodores 14th appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16 after earning its sixth Southeastern Conference Tournament championship.

Exhibition Date Location Opponent Commodores points Opp. points Record Nov. 2/08 Nashville Tusculum 98 40 1-0 Nov. 7/08 Nashville Love & Basketball 83 74 2-0

Regular season February 15: The Commodores wore pink jerseys to commemorate North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow. Christina Wirth scored 21 points to lead five players in double figures as the Commodores defeated Georgia 80-64. The other players in double figures were Merideth Marsh, who had 18 points, while Jennifer Risper, Hannah Tuomi and Tia Gibbs each had 10. Danielle Taylor led Georgia with 20 points in 32 minutes off the bench. Angel Robinson added 17. Vanderbilt used a 17-3 second-half run to take the lead for good. The score was tied 47-47 when Wirth made a jump shot as Marsh was fouled away from the ball. Marsh made both free throws to complete the four-point sequence and then scored the final five points of the run with a layup and three free throws.

Roster Number Name Height Position Class 11 Ashlee Bridge 5-11 Guard/Forward Junior 12 Jordan Coleman 5-11 Forward Freshman 5 Lauren Lueders 5-8 Guard Junior 23 Merideth Marsh 5-6 Guard Junior 20 Jessica Mooney 5-8 Guard Junior 4 Angela Puleo 5-9 Guard Sophomore 22 Jence Rhoads 5-11 Guard Sophomore 2 Jennifer Risper 5-9 Guard Senior 33 Rebecca Silinski 6-3 Forward Sophomore 15 Hannah Tuomi 6-1 Forward Sophomore 34 Christina Wirth 6-1 Forward Senior

Schedule Date Location Opponent Commodores points Opp. points Record Nov. 14/08 Nashville Texas A&M Corpus Christi 85 51 1-0 Nov. 16/08 Bowling Green, KY Western Kentucky 90 72 2-0 Nov. 19/08 Nashville Eastern Kentucky 80 38 3-0 Nov. 21/08 Johnson City, TN East Tennessee State 66 55 4-0 Nov. 23/08 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan 42 50 4-1 Nov. 28/08 Nashville Davidson 82 50 5-1 Nov. 29/08 Nashville Virginia Tech 72 43 6-1Dec. 2/08 Nashville Radford 78 41 7-1 Dec. 4/08 Fullerton, CA Cal-State Fullerton 83 67 8-1 Dec. 6/08 Riverside, CA UC Riverside 47 50 8-2 Dec. 19/08 Nashville Tennessee State 98 82 9-2 Dec. 21/08 Nashville Tennessee-Martin 86 29 10-2 Dec. 22/08 Nashville Liberty 67 50 11-2 Dec. 30/08 Nashville Notre Dame 57 59 12-2Jan. 3/09 Ames, Iowa Iowa State 51 55 11-3 Jan. 8/09 Tuscaloosa, AL Alabama 85 76 12-3 Jan. 11/09 Nashville Tennessee Lady Vols 74 58 13-3 Jan. 18/09 Nashville LSU 75 67 14-3 Jan. 22/09 Athens, GA Georgia 55 66 Jan. 25/09 Columbia, SC South Carolina 66 56 Jan. 29/09 Nashville Arkansas 72 61 Feb. 1/09 Nashville Alabama 88 64 Feb. 5/09 Starkville, MS Mississippi State 61 66 Feb. 8/09 Lexington, KY Kentucky 72 62 Feb. 12/09 Nashville Florida 84 68 Feb. 15/09 Nashville Georgia 80 64

Player stats Player Games played Minutes Field goals Three pointers Free throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Points Christina Wirth 35 1176 212 80 78 198 74 8 52 582 Hannah Tuomi 28 682 143 0 34 166 27 5 25 320 Merideth Marsh 35 1122 124 81 45 86 62 030 374 Jennifer Risper 35 1031 117 0 92 199 99 481 326 Jessica Mooney 35 704 88 14 59 79 83 17 50 249Jence Rhoads 35 1028 84 1 52 81 132 1242 221 Tia Gibbs 29 372 52 24 19 71 17 3 23 147Chanel Chisholm 34 387 64 0 43 100 14 8 35 171 Lauren Lueders 24 186 21 14 5 31 26 1 11 61 Jordan Coleman 19 108 10 0 9 32 1 0 229 Ashlee Bridge 14 92 4 0 9 16 3 3 217 Rebecca Silinski 8 30 3 0 1 5 0 0 17 Amy Malo 19 107 4 0 4 16 4 6 112

Postseason

SEC Tournament Vanderbilt 69, Georgia 61 Vanderbilt 61, LSU 47 Vanderbilt 61, Auburn 54

March 8: The Commodores earned the SEC Tournament crown for sixth time in school history. In the championship game, Christine Wirth scored 20 points, and the Commodores (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) beat Auburn (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) 61-54 to win the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Vanderbilt (24-8) defeated the Tigers (29-3) for the second time in three weeks to win the SEC tournament. Vanderbilt also extended its winning streak over Auburn to 15. Auburn star DeWanna Bonner was held to nine points after scoring a combined 58 in her first two games of the tournament. Whitney Boddie led the Tigers with 14 points and eight assists. This was the 10th straight year the No. 1 seed has failed to win the SEC tournament. Wirth was named the tournament's most valuable player while Jennifer Risper also made the all-tournament squad. Vanderbilt has the second-most SEC tournament titles of any program, trailing only Tennessee's 13.

NCAA basketball tournament Seeding in brackets Raleigh Regional - Raleigh, NC Vanderbilt (4) 73, Western Carolina (13) 44 Vanderbilt 74, Kansas State (5) 61 Maryland (1) 78, Vanderbilt 74

Awards and honors Christina Wirth, All-Senior All-America First Team by the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award committee. Christina Wirth, All-SEC Honors Christina Wirth, SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player Christina Wirth, SEC All-Tournament Team Christina Wirth, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year. Christina Wirth has received honorable mention on the 2009 State Farm Coaches' All-America Team Jennifer Risper, SEC All-Tournament Team Jennifer Risper, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year. Jennifer Risper, The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) has selected Vanderbilt's Jennifer Risper as the WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year.

Team players drafted into the WNBA Round Pick Player WNBA club 2 19 Christina Wirth Indiana Fever 3 29 Jennifer Risper Chicago Sky

See also 2008–09 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team

References

External links Official Site