Vanderbilt Used 36-4 Run To Bury Kentucky 84-50 1/19/03

The Vanderbilt Commodores (11-5, 1-2) played their most inspirational game of the season in an 84-50 defeat of the Kentucky Wildcats (8-7, 1-2) Sunday afternoon in Memorial Gym. After losing senior leader Ashley McElhiney two minutes into the game due to a severely sprained ankle, the Commodores pulled together and blew out the 'Cats. Junior Jenni Benningfield's career-high 24 points keyed a remarkable 15 minute stretch where the Commodores outscored Kentucky 36-4.

With Vanderbilt trailing 8-5 in the early going, senior point guard and team leader McElhiney lay in agony at mid-court after spraining her ankle. The Vanderbilt medical staff ended up carrying her off the court to get x-rays, but the results showed no broken bones.

The injury to McElhiney catapulted freshman Erica Grimaldi into running the Vanderbilt offense for the rest of the game. Without a backup, Grimaldi efficiently ran the offense while dishing out nine assists.

With the Commodores trailing 30-28 and senior Chantelle Anderson on the bench saddled with two fouls, Benningfield took over. Benningfield connected for seven points which propelled VU to an 11-0 run to finish the half with a nine point lead.

Benningfield was not to be denied as she continued her hot shooting through the second half. The Commodores picked up right where they left off and continued the run that started in the first half by blowing out UK with a 36-4 run. The run included the 11-0 first half run and a 20-0 run to cap the scoring.
Sophomore Abi Ramsey also contributed to the incredible run as she drained four of six three pointers to finished the game with 17 points. The game marked the end of a cold spell where Ramsey had only connected on 16 of her last 60 three-point attempts.

Senior Chantelle Anderson continued to deliver as she inked her 38th consecutive game scoring in double figures with 17 points. Due to Kentucky's triple team, a bulk of Anderson's points came at the charity stripe where sank nine of her twelve attempts.

The 'Dores return to action by hosting the Arkansas Razorbacks Thursday night at 7 pm in Memorial Gym.