Alabama
Vanderbilt
Crimson Tide Preps for Vanderbilt in Round One of SEC Tournament
3/5/2019 3:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Alabama and Vandy will play at approximately 12:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Alabama will open the 2019 Southeastern Conference Tournament as the No. 11 seed and take on No. 14 seed Vanderbilt on Wednesday, March 6 at approximately 12:30 p.m. CT inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. The two teams will tipoff 25 minutes after the end of the first game of the day between No. 12 seed Ole Miss and No. 13 seed Florida which is slated for a 10 a.m. CT start.
THE BROADCAST
• Wednesday's contest will be streamed live on SEC Network. Courtney Lyle (play-by-play) and Tamika Catchings (analyst) will be on the call, along with Steffi Sorensen on the sidelines.
• The game can also be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network on 100.1 FM in Tuscaloosa with Roger Hoover and Rick Moody on the broadcast.
OPENING TIP
• No. 11 seed Alabama will take on No. 14 seed Vanderbilt for the second time in two weeks when the teams take the court on Wednesday, March 6 at approximately 12:30 p.m. CT in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Greensville, S.C.
• The Crimson Tide (13-16, 5-11 SEC) fell in its last game of the regular season when it lost to Mizzou, 82-47 on March 3. The Commodores (7-22, 2-14 SEC) dropped its home game to Florida, 78-66, to close out their 2018-19 regular-season campaign.
• This is the 50th meeting between the two schools with Vanderbilt holding the 34-15 all-time advantage. The Tide won the last meeting, 84-65, in Nashville on Feb. 21, 2019. The last time the two sides played one another in the SEC Tournament was back in 2017 when the Crimson Tide defeated the Commodores in the first round in Greenville, S.C., 77-57, on March 1. Alabama is 3-3 all-time against Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament.
ABOUT VANDERBILT
• The Commodores finished last in the SEC with its only wins coming against Ole Miss (1/24) and its first-ever win in Knoxville against Tennessee (2/28).
• Vanderbilt is 0-2 in neutral site games this season, with the Dores and Tide both playing in the Florida Sunshine State Classic in Winter Park, Fla., back in December.
• Mariella Fasoula leads the Commodores with 16.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest. Cierra Walker (10.8 points) and Chelsie Hall (10.2) points are the other two VU players who average double-digits.
NEWS AND NOTES
• Cierra Johnson is coming off four-straight impressive performances after scoring 20-plus points in three of her last four games, including two double-doubles. She is averaging 21 points and 9.3 rebounds in her last four contests. Johnson picked up her first career double-double in the overtime loss against Georgia (2/24) after adding 12 rebounds and five assists to her 23-point performance. The Mobile, Ala., native was the first Alabama player since 2013 to have 20-10-5 in a game. More recently, Johnson put in 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in the win against Ole Miss (2/28). Johnson became the first UA player since Ashley Williams in 2014 to score 20-plus points in back-to-back games with 25 at Vanderbilt (2/21) and 23 versus Georgia (2/24).
• She is currently averaging 14.7 points per game (12th in SEC) and in total assists with 88. Johnson is also the top-rebounding guard on the squad and third on the team with 5.1 per contest. The junior has twice as many free throw attempts (145 - T-7th in SEC) and makes (105 - 7th in SEC) than any other player on the team.
• Sophomore Jasmine Walker is currently the second leading scorer among active members on the team and is the leading rebounder with 12.4 points (23rd in SEC) and 7.6 rebounds per game (11th in SEC). Walker also leads the team with six double-doubles this season and has eight games in which she has registered double-digit rebounds.
• Copeland has made significant strides from her freshman season to her sophomore campaign. This season she is tops on the team with 1.2 blocks per game (9th in SEC) and second on the squad with 7.1 rebounds (13th in SEC) per contest. Copeland is also putting up 8.2 points per game, compared to averaging three points a game in 2017-18.
• The Columbus, Ga., native is second on the team with four double-doubles and has started the last 20 games for the Tide. She is also averaging 1.3 blocks (5th in SEC) and 7.4 rebounds (T-10th in SEC) in SEC play.
• Getting off to a hot start has been key for the Tide this season, when leading at half UA is 11-1, while when trailing, 2-15.
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