Coaches vs. Cancer Game
Fans attending the Vanderbilt/Duquesne game will be helping the American Cancer Society. For each ticket sold, $1 will be donated to cancer research. Pittsburgh native and breast cancer survivor Edna Campbell will address the crowd at halftime. Campbell , a member of the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs, made a courageous comeback in her team’s final game of the season after being placed on the injured reserve list in March. Duquesne Head Coach Dan Durkin, who is also a cancer survivor, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October, 2000.

PLAYERS AND NUMBERS TO WATCH
Hillary Hager returns to her home state of Pennsylvania. Hager was an all-state selection at Franklin High School in Franklin, Penn. Her father, Bill, is the boy’s basketball coach at Franklin High School.
Ashley McElhiney set the Vanderbilt school record with 17 assists at Louisville. On Dec. 22, 2002, she set the VU career assists record against UT-Martinwith a then career-high 13 assists.. She surpassed Ginger Jared who totaled 516 (1993-96, 3.9 pga, 132 games)
The Commodores are ending their 5-games in 10-day stretch (three on the road) against Duquesne. VU played at TCU on Dec. 29; hosted Charlotte on Dec. 31; played at Louisville on Jan. 2; and hosted Holy Cross on Jan. 4.
The Commodores open Southeastern Conference play Sunday, Jan. 12 at Mississippi State.
Louisville was Vanderbilt’s third consecutive Conference USA opponent. The Commodores lost to TCU; defeated UNC-Charlotte and fell to Louisville.
VU’s 70-53 loss at TCU was the first loss to an unranked team since Arkansas defeated VU 67-57 Jan. 31, 2002 in Fayetteville, Ark. It was the fist loss to an unranked non-conference team since Nov. 19, 2000, when VU fell at Xavier, 64-60, when Melanie Balcomb was the Muskateer’s head coach.
The Commodores shot 38.8 percent at TCU which is the lowest field goal percentage by a Commodore team since Feb. 27, 2000, when Vanderbilt shot 36.1 percent (22-61) in a 75-49 loss at Georgia.
Junior forward Jenni Benningfield has led the Commodores in scoring and rebounding in four games - she totals four double-double performances.
Senior center Chantelle Anderson has been named as a nominee for the inagural Creamland Dairies Women’s Collegiate Basketball Student-Athlete of the year award announced by the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau. The award honors college seniors for their athletic and academic achievements as well as community involvement. Anderson recorded a season-high 27 points at UT-Martin.

Complete Notes