VU WBB: Florida State 73, Vandy 59

Vanderbilt fell to 3-3 on the 2012-13 season on Saturday evening with a 73-59 loss to the Florida State Seminoles in the San Juan Shootout. Jasmine Lister led the Dores with 16 points. Elan Brown added 13 points and Kendall Shaw scored 10. Christina Foggie, the team's leading scorer, was injured in the first half and sat out the rest of the game.

Starters for the game were the same as in the previous game. Christina Foggie, who had hurt her foot in the closing seconds of Friday's game, was cleared to play and started the game. Other starters were point guard Jasmine Lister, Elan Brown at guard, and Tiffany Clarke and Heather Bowe in the post.




Unlike Friday's game, the Dores got off to a solid start against the Seminoles. A 3-pointer by Lister gave Vanderbilt an early 5-4 lead.




After missing her first few shots, Foggie knocked down a 3-pointer with shot clock winding down to tie the game at 13-13.


But then the problems began to mount. Senior post Tiffany Clarke had picked up her second foul early in the half and was on the bench. Then a Florida State player collided with Foggie and fell on her injured foot. Foggie left the game with the Seminoles leading 25-20 and didn't return.




With Foggie out of the game, freshmen guards Jasmine Jenkins and Morgan Batey picked up additional minutes. With Clarke playing limited minutes due to foul trouble, freshmen posts Heather Bowe and Kendall Shaw also played significant minutes.




Senior Elan Brown did some of everything. Besides scoring 13 points, she also was the team's leading rebounder with six boards, dished out two assists and had four steals.

"Elan today was fabulous," said Head Coach Melanie Balcomb after the game. "She’s our smartest defender and she made plays defensively and she also hit shots on offense. I loved Elan’s game today. She played 2, 3, 4, and 5 for us. She played everything but point. And she’s the glue, and she kept this team together tonight."




At halftime, Florida State held a 36-26 lead, but Vanderbilt began to close the gap. A 3-pointer by Lister cut the Seminole lead to score 40-33.




Then a pair a free throws by Kendall Shaw cut the lead to five points at 40-35. After a Florida State basket, a 3-pointer by Brown cut the lead to four points at 42-38.




But as it turned out, that's as close as Vanderbilt would come. Until the final minute the Dores stayed within single digits, and several times cut the lead to six points, but they were never able to get over the hump. In the final minute of the game, when Vanderbilt was forced to foul, the Seminoles made their free throws to seal the 73-59 victory.

Early Sunday morning the team flies back to Nashville. They return to action on Wednesday November 28 when they host Austin Peay. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.


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Photos copyright 2012 by Whitney D. for VandyMania.com