Welcome to Durham

By Weinman -

The lacrosse team arrived in North Carolina late last night, flying into Charlotte and then driving 200 miles to Durham. The team practiced at 1 p.m. today next to Koskinen Stadium as the Duke men took on Johns Hopkins (spoiler alert: DU beat JHU, 18-5). The rest of the day is reserved for rest and relaxation until dinner at 411 in Chapel Hill - a favorite of VU asst. coach and UNC grad Amber Falcone.

Tomorrow's game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. CT start. Live stats will be available through the web site.

WBB in Cincy: Talking up Tuomi

By Weinman

Check out a great feature by Jayne Cornwell written exclusively for VUcommodores.com on Commodore junior Hannah Tuomi.

Perseverance, Determination, Guts: Tuomi

There was also some good ink (pun intended after you've read the above article) on the Commodores on ESPN.com by Graham Hays: Marsh, Rhoads go the distance

Tomorrow night's game (6 p.m. CT) is scheduled for regional coverage on ESPN2 and will be simulcast nationally on ESPNU. Fans can also watch online through ESPN360.com.

WBB in Cincy: Media Monday

By Weinman

On Monday, Vanderbilt returned to the Cintas Center for 30 minutes of media availability and 90 minutes of practice.

Prior to his VU-Blog debut this afternoon, Charlie Mattos sat down with senior guard Merideth Marsh for an interview that will be featured on his pre-game show before tomorrow's second round game against Xavier (Tuesday, 6 p.m. CT, WNSR 560-AM).

That video is above, with audio from the afternoon's press conference (which featured Marsh, juniors Hannah Tuomi and Jence Rhoads, and Coach Balcomb) also available, along with quotes from VU and Xavier. Our obligations are done for the day, with dinner and a movie to Commodores' only set plans for the rest of the evening.

Click Here to Read Press Conference Quotes

Listen to Press Conference

WBB Cincy: Charlie's Hotel Tour

(Guest blog: Charlie Mattos, the play-by-play voice of Vanderbilt women's basketball since 1993, is Weinman's roommate on the road and was gracious enough to write a blog today)

So often on the road we find ourselves at very nice hotels located in the “middle of nowhere”… why they build hotels in non-descript office parks is beyond me… so it was a thrill and pleasure to find that the NCAA placed us at the historic “Netherland Plaza” Hilton in downtown Cincinnati.

Completed in January of 1931 this is truly a palace of a hotel. Originally built for 7 million dollars, the hotel has received a pair of facelifts in the past two decades that ran around $43 million! Just about anywhere you turn you’re bound to find something interesting… molding, artwork, sconces, vintage signage, it’s all here… there’s a reason this place has achieved “Landmark” status on the National Historic Register.

The photos show the “Palm Court” restaurant, perhaps Cincinnati’s finest; a lobby chandelier, the “piano stage & fountain” just up from the lobby bar, and the lobby & seating area….

Photo Gallery

Elvis, President Kennedy & first lady Jackie, Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt and Bing Crosby are among the many high-profile guests who have stayed here. This place was truly groundbreaking in its early days. It was one of the first of the “city within a city” projects, complete with hotel, office space and an upscale shopping mall, plus – get this -- a totally automated parking garage!

WBB in Cincy: Saturday at Cintas & MND

By Weinman

The team arrived at the Cintas Center this morning just after 11 a.m. to fulfill a 30-minute media obligation. After a press conference and some extra interviews near the lockerroom, the Commodores had a one-hour shootaround on the main floor. ESPN2's full contigent (Producer Jonathan Labovich, Director Dan Reagan, Play-by-Play Bob Wischusen and analyst Stephanie White) was courtside to watch the proceedings, after which Coach Balcomb spent a few minutes catching up with the crew.

With only an hour allowed on court at the Cintas Center, Vanderbilt headed up to get some additional time in at Mount Notre Dame High School, where freshman Gabby Smith prepped. The team was greeted by Smith's former coach, Dante Harlan, and a host of "good luck Gabby" signs. The gym's walls were lined with championship banners, as well, including four state championship banners from 2006 through 2009, side-by-side, all with "Gabby Smith" emblazoned on them.

Here are a few photos from the day: Photo Gallery

Will have some more stuff from today's press conferences coming down the pipe soon. And make sure you're following along with our Twitter feed - when I'm away from the computer Twitter is the easiest way to shoot a quick update on what's going on.

WBB in Cincy: Montgomery Inn

By Weinman

The team arrived in Cincinnati around 8 p.m. on Friday night and headed straight to the Montgomery Inn for dinner. Montgomery Inn was one of Coach Balcomb's favorite restaurants when she was at Xavier, and I certainly can't argue with her taste after eating there.

Billed as "home of the world's greatest ribs," Montgomery Inn is owned by the family of VU women's soccer player Margaux Andrews. Margaux's grandparents, Matula and Ted Gregory, opened the institution in 1951 and the four current locations are still family owned and operated. Marguax's parents, Terry and Evan, dropped in to say hello and wish the Commodores luck this week. Evan told the team of his restaurant's history of success with visiting sports teams -- in his words, "We don't serve losers." The couple also posed for a photo with Strength and Conditioning Coach Tasha Weddle, who mentors both the basketball and soccer teams.

For dinner, I went with the ribs and shrimp combination. The ribs had a great rub on them with just the right amount of sauce and the fried shrimp were served with their own dipping sauce that was also outstanding. Most folks topped off their meals with a Graeters ice cream sundae, and I couldn't help but be overindulgent as well. Try the raspberry chocolate chip with hot fudge if you get a chance.

I took a handful of pictures at the restaurant, available here ( Photo Gallery). I have a couple meetings in the morning, then the team arrives at the arena for media availability at 11:20 a.m. followed by a one-hour shootaround. More tomorrow!

Happy Birthday, Tash!

By Weinman

The women's basketball team has made an annual habit of celebrating Strength & Conditioning Coach Tasha Weddle's July 5th birthday during March Madness. This year's surprise cake and candle came at the Montgomery Inn in Cincinnati.

The team also had a cake delivered to Lucy, one of the student managers, whose actually birthday is tomorrow. More on the restaurant soon....

Photos: Memorial Send-off for WBB

By Weinman

Faculty, staff, students and fans gathered Friday afternoon outside Memorial Gym to see the women's basketball team off on its trip to Cincinnati. Originally scheduled to leave at 2, the team's departure was delayed by about 45 minutes. The dedicated group pictured above arrived before 1:30 and almost everyone was able to stick around -- a big THANK YOU from everyone involved with the team for that kind of support.

I took a handful of pictures of our departure: Photo Gallery

NCAA Tourney Notes: WBB Edition

By Weinman - Following in the footsteps of Boggs and Barca, I wanted to get the women's postseason guide up on the blog for all the world to see. It's in three parts: game notes, stats and news clippings. The .pdf files are below.

NCAA Tournament Notes

2009-10 News Clippings

2009-10 Statistics

WBB Presents: A Cincinnati Top 10

By Weinman

As the women's basketball team prepares for its first round NCAA Tournament game against DePaul on Sunday, Cincinnati natives Ashlee Bridge and Gabby Smith took time out to prepare a list of the 10 best things about their hometown.

Ashlee and Gabby were eager to get the word out about a city they love, so we sat down yesterday inside Memorial to film a video Top 10. Below the video, I'll post their Top 10 list along with links to all the places that make Cincinnati a great place.



Top 10: Best Things About Cincinnati
10. Sawyer Point
9. Cincinnati Museum Center
8. Newport Aquarium / Cincinnati Zoo
7. Fountain Square
6. Riverbend Music Center
5. Sports teams: Reds (MLB) and Bengals (NFL)
4. Food: Skyline Chili, Graeters, Grippos, Montgomery Inn
3. School of Creative and Performing Arts
2. Amusement Parks: King's Island, Great Wolf Lodge
1. Ashlee and Gabby

TV Coverage for WBB on ESPN networks

By Weinman - All 63 games of the Women's NCAA Tournament will be televised by the ESPN family of networks again this year. Vanderbilt's first round matchup with DePaul (Sunday, 11:11 a.m. CT) is set to be shown by ESPN2.

The networks will utilize "whip-around" coverage for the first two rounds of the tournament since up to four games are being played in the same time slot. This should not be an issue in the Nashville market, as games of local interest are slated to be shown in their entirety (with "constant updates" from other games instead of switching). ESPN360.com will have every game of the tournament, as will ESPN Full Court ($79). Details in the .pdf file below....

All in all, the verbiage of it is a bit cumbersome, but I thought I'd post the information from ESPN for you to see. There should be coverage maps available on ESPN.com later this week.

ESPN Coverage Guide

Coleman turns tables on Peck

By Weinman

Following Vanderbilt's 63-61 win over LSU on Friday night, ESPN analyst and VU alum Carolyn Peck dropped by the Commodore lockerroom to prep for tomorrow's semifinal broadcast.

After talking with Coach Balcomb and a number of VU players, Peck took time to be interviewed by current Commodore sophomore Jordan Coleman. The Lake Mary, Fla., native asked the 1988 VU grad a trio of questions with her teammates and Peck's ESPN co-worker Cara Capuano looking on.

Jordan Coleman interviews Carolyn Peck
Click to Download Audio



The photo above is courtesy of Peck's Twitter page (@CarolynPeck). Follow her and the @VandyWBB page.

Flip It: Friday's Quarterfinal Send-off

By Weinman

Band and cheer met the Commodores at their hotel Friday to send the team off to its quarterfinal game against LSU at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Thanks to Heather Casteel, the team's student trainer, for capturing this video.

CRIBS: Sleeper Bus

By Weinman

Thanks to sophomore Jordan Coleman, here is a behind-the-scenes look at how the Commodores travel in style. Step aboard the team's sleeper bus in Duluth, Georgia, for this episode of "VUcommodores.com Cribs."

History on VU's side in Duluth

By Weinman

As the Southeastern Conference prepares to tip off its 2010 tournament (Ole Miss and South Carolina start at Noon ET), I thought folks might enjoy a look back at past SEC Tournaments that show, whichever way you look at it, history is on Vanderbilt's side.

2009: Of course, we know that the Commodores are the defending SEC Tournament champions after winning the title in North Little Rock, Ark., last March. READ STORY

2007: The only other time the tournament was in Duluth, Ga., was in the 2007. Vanderbilt claimed their fifth SEC Tournament championship that year. READ STORY

2004: With the Commodores taking the fifth seed, Vanderbilt will have to win four game in four days to take home another trophy. Coach Balcomb's 2004 Commodore squad was only the second team in league history to accomplish that feat. READ STORY

Gameday from Gwinnett

By Weinman - With eight teams scheduled to shootaround Thursday before the first game starts at Noon ET, squads are limited to a strict 30-minutes of on-court time inside the Arena at Gwinnett Center. To make the most of their time on the court, Strength and Conditioning Coach Tasha Weddle put the team through their warmup routine in a back hallway while Arkansas used their shootaround time.

I'll do my best to keep the updates rolling on the web site, and especially through our Twitter feed, as we prepare for tonight's game against Arkansas. Tip is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports South (and ESPN360), and on WNSR-560 AM.

WBB Seeding Scenarios

By Weinman - With the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team playing host to South Carolina for both teams’ regular season finale Sunday, the seeding picture for the 2010 Southeastern Conference Tournament -- which has been nothing short of a mess during the stretch run -- is finally taking shape, at least as far as Vanderbilt is concerned.

• With a win....
A Vanderbilt win on Sunday guarantees the Commodores a top-four seed and first-round bye in the SEC Tournament.

A win coupled with a Mississippi State loss (at LSU) would give Vanderbilt sole possession of third place in the league. If both Vanderbilt and Mississippi State win, the Lady Bulldogs would take the head-to-head tiebreaker and earn the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament, with the Commodores getting the fourth seed.

• With a loss....
A Vanderbilt loss on Sunday would open up the possibility of the Commodores placing fifth or even sixth. But should Vanderbilt fall to South Carolina, the Commodores could still take fourth place with a loss by LSU (vs. Mississippi State). In this case, a Georgia victory (vs. Arkansas) would give VU and UGA the same 9-7 record, but the Commodores would take fourth based on the head-to-head tiebreaker.

If a Vanderbilt loss is coupled with a win by LSU (and loss by Georgia), the Commodores would get the five seed. In that scenario, Mississippi State wins a three-way tie and LSU gets the four seed after taking the head-to-head tiebreaker over Vanderbilt.

A Vanderbilt loss grouped with wins by both LSU and Georgia would bump the Commodores all the way to sixth place. Again Mississippi State would win the four-way tiebreaker and get the No. 3 seed. Vanderbilt, Georgia and LSU are then all 1-1 against each other in a three-way tie, and tiebreaker 3B comes into effect (best winning percentage of the tied teams versus the No. 1 team, proceeding down through the No. 12 team if necessary). Georgia would get the No. 4 seed based on their win over top seed Tennessee, and LSU would get the No. 5 seed with the head-to-head win over Vandy.

• Shorthand summary....
VU Tourney Seed... based on Sunday Results
Third... MSU loss, VU win
Fourth... MSU win
Fifth... VU loss, LSU win, UGA loss
Sixth... VU loss, LSU win, UGA win

In the above summary, only the necessary results are listed. Ex: Whether VU wins or loses Sunday, an MSU victory makes the Commodores the No. 4 seed in the SEC Tournament. Special thanks to the Tennessean's Jeff Lockridge for helping to figure all this out.

Prowlin' the PMAC

By Weinman

During Vanderbilt's midday shootaround at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on LSU's campus, I dropped by to pay Mike the Tiger a visit. Mike IV's 15,000 square foot habitat was under construction the first time I came to Baton Rouge in 2004 with the football team.

Mike has his own web site that offers tons of information on the history and tradition of LSU's live mascot. You can even check out a live web cam of Mike's enclosure. And it really is live -- student manager David Epstein headed out to the enclosure, waved to the camera, and sprinted back in the gym. His image had come and gone on the web cam long before he returned inside PMAC. We did manage to get a grainy screen capture to save the event for posterity. In the picture below, David is at the very bottom of the screen in a bright pink shirt (which reminds me: much like Vanderbilt's game on Sunday, tonight's game at LSU is part of the WBCA's Pink Zone initiative to raise awareness of breast cancer).

Mooney Interview Airs Tonight

By Weinman - Senior guard Jessica Mooney took time this past weekend to record an interview with Michael Hackney of the Middle Tennessee Sports Network. The local group broadcasts high school basketball and hockey game throughout the Nashville area.

Tonight's basketball matchup features Hillsboro, Mooney's alma mater, taking on Ravenwood. The girls' game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., with the pregame broadcast firing up around 5:40. Mooney's interview will air during the pre-game coverage.

The broadcast is available via the link above. There are two large media players on the home page, with the basketball player located underneath hockey player. If you miss this live tonight, the entire broadcast will be archived on the MTSN web site later tonight.

Greetings from South Bend

By Weinman - The 2009-10 Vanderbilt women's basketball team makes its television debut this afternoon against the third-ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The game will be broadcast on CBS College Sports (DirecTV: 613; Dish: 152; Comcast: out of luck), starting at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. local in South Bend).

Dave Ryan and Debbie Antonelli have the call on television. For those cable customers that might not get CBS College Sports, Charlie Mattos' radio call will of course be featured on WNSR 560-AM and on vucommodores.com. You can also follow the action with Gametracker or by following the @VandyWBB Twitter feed. Thanks to Dr. Alex Diamond for the above photo of the Golden Dome, and the pic of Charlie in front of Touchdown Jesus (below).