NASHVILLE (Jan. 7, 2002) ÑÊIn its final non-conference game of the season, eighth-ranked Vanderbilt jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 71-32 victory over the University of Louisville before 3,792 at Memorial Gymnasium. The margin of victory, 39 points, was the second-largest of the season behind only the 106-64 triumph Dec. 31 over Canisius.

The Commodores (14-3) opened with a 23-2 run, which included baskets by four of the five starters. Freshman Ashley Earley scored the first four points on put-backs and added a jump shot that made it 10-2. Chantelle Anderson had seven points during the run, Jillian Danker had six and Zuzi Klimesova added four. The Lady Cardinals (9-5) got no closer than 19 the rest of the way. They made only 13 field goals the entire contest and shot 21 percent from the floor (13-62).

Vanderbilt shot a season-low 44.2 percent, but outrebounded UL 45-38 and blocked a season-high four shots. Anderson accounted for two of the blocks and became the ninth player in program history with at least 100 blocks for a career. She got to 100 exactly and with 18 points moved past Heidi Gillingham into sixth place on VUÕs career scoring list.

Danker led all scorers with 19 points. The SECÕs leader in free throw shooting, she was seven-for-seven from the line and made two of four 3-point attempts (five-for-eight from the field overall). Earley finished with eight points but also had a game-high 13 rebounds, eight points three assists and a steal. Klimesova added eight points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

VU led 42-14 at halftime and promptly stretched that cushion with an 18-3 run to open the second half. Anderson scored eight points during that stretch. The Commodores led 70-27 with 3:32 to play when coach Jim Foster emptied the bench. No one played more than 27 minutes and everyone played at least four for VU.

Reserve center LaKisha Hoffman led Louisville with nine points. No one else scored more than five.

The Commodores won 14 of 16 against non-conference opposition. It was their most victories against opponents outside the SEC since they won 15 in 1995-96.

They begin the heart of the conference schedule 7 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Gym against the University of Kentucky.

Vanderbilt Head Coach Jim Foster:

"We working hard on defense. We will be a good defensive team before its over. We had a lot of intensity on that end of the floor tonight."

"Ashley (Earley) is a talented kid. Right now she is a high-level rebounder. Her skills give us another dimension, making us deeper in the post and another way to score."

Chantelle Anderson:

"The first few minutes are critical. You can lose a game if you let a team stay with you in the first few minutes, so it helps when we can start strong like tonight."

Louisville Head Coach Martin Clapp:

"I would have liked to see us force them to keep their starters on the floor a little longer. It seemed like we came out intimidated. They are a great team and we won't be the only team that will get beat like this by them."