# 2008–09 Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team

The 2008–09 Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Commodores were a member of the Southeast Conference and competed in the Sweet Sixteen at the NCAA Tournament. It was the Commodores 14th appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16 after earning its sixth Southeastern Conference Tournament championship.

## Exhibition

| Date | Location | Opponent | Commodores Points | Opp. Points | Record |
| Nov. 2/08 | Nashville | Tusculum | 98 | 40 | 1-0 |
| Nov. 7/08 | Nashville | Love & Basketball | 83 | 74 | 2-0 |

## Regular season

* February 15: The Commodores wore pink jerseys to commemorate North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow. Christina Wirth scored 21 points to lead five players in double figures as the Commodores defeated Georgia 80-64. The other players in double figures were Merideth Marsh, who had 18 points, while Jennifer Risper, Hannah Tuomi and Tia Gibbs each had 10. Danielle Taylor led Georgia with 20 points in 32 minutes off the bench. Angel Robinson added 17. Vanderbilt used a 17-3 second-half run to take the lead for good. The score was tied 47-47 when Wirth made a jump shot as Marsh was fouled away from the ball. Marsh made both free throws to complete the four-point sequence and then scored the final five points of the run with a layup and three free throws.

### Roster

| Number | Name | Height | Position | Class |
| 11 | Ashlee Bridge | 5-11 | Guard/Forward | Junior |
| 12 | Jordan Coleman | 5-11 | Forward | Freshman |
| 5 | Lauren Lueders | 5-8 | Guard | Junior |
| 23 | Merideth Marsh | 5-6 | Guard | Junior |
| 20 | Jessica Mooney | 5-8 | Guard | Junior |
| 4 | Angela Puleo | 5-9 | Guard | Sophomore |
| 22 | Jence Rhoads | 5-11 | Guard | Sophomore |
| 2 | Jennifer Risper | 5-9 | Guard | Senior |
| 33 | Rebecca Silinski | 6-3 | Forward | Sophomore |
| 15 | Hannah Tuomi | 6-1 | Forward | Sophomore |
| 34 | Christina Wirth | 6-1 | Forward | Senior |

### Schedule

| Date | Location | Opponent | Commodores Points | Opp. Points | Record |
| Nov. 14/08 | Nashville | Texas A&M Corpus Christi | 85 | 51 | 1-0 |
| Nov. 16/08 | Bowling Green, KY | Western Kentucky | 90 | 72 | 2-0 |
| Nov. 19/08 | Nashville | Eastern Kentucky | 80 | 38 | 3-0 |
| Nov. 21/08 | Johnson City, TN | East Tennessee State | 66 | 55 | 4-0 |
| Nov. 23/08 | Ann Arbor, MI | Michigan | 42 | 50 | 4-1 |
| Nov. 28/08 | Nashville | Davidson | 82 | 50 | 5-1 |
| Nov. 29/08 | Nashville | Virginia Tech | 72 | 43 | 6-1 |
| Dec. 2/08 | Nashville | Radford | 78 | 41 | 7-1 |
| Dec. 4/08 | Fullerton, CA | Cal-State Fullerton | 83 | 67 | 8-1 |
| Dec. 6/08 | Riverside, CA | UC Riverside | 47 | 50 | 8-2 |
| Dec. 19/08 | Nashville | Tennessee State | 98 | 82 | 9-2 |
| Dec. 21/08 | Nashville | Tennessee-Martin | 86 | 29 | 10-2 |
| Dec. 22/08 | Nashville | Liberty | 67 | 50 | 11-2 |
| Dec. 30/08 | Nashville | Notre Dame | 57 | 59 | 12-2 |
| Jan. 3/09 | Ames, Iowa | Iowa State | 51 | 55 | 11-3 |
| Jan. 8/09 | Tuscaloosa, AL | Alabama | 85 | 76 | 12-3 |
| Jan. 11/09 | Nashville | Tennessee Lady Vols | 74 | 58 | 13-3 |
| Jan. 18/09 | Nashville | LSU | 75 | 67 | 14-3 |
| Jan. 22/09 | Athens, GA | Georgia | 55 | 66 | |
| Jan. 25/09 | Columbia, SC | South Carolina | 66 | 56 | |
| Jan. 29/09 | Nashville | Arkansas | 72 | 61 | |
| Feb. 1/09 | Nashville | Alabama | 88 | 64 | |
| Feb. 5/09 | Starkville, MS | Mississippi State | 61 | 66 | |
| Feb. 8/09 | Lexington, KY | Kentucky | 72 | 62 | |
| Feb. 12/09 | Nashville | Florida | 84 | 68 | |
| Feb. 15/09 | Nashville | Georgia | 80 | 64 | |

## Player stats

| Player | Games Played | Minutes | Field Goals | Three Pointers | Free Throws | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | Points |
| Christina Wirth | 35 | 1176 | 212 | 80 | 78 | 198 | 74 | 8 | 52 | 582 |
| Hannah Tuomi | 28 | 682 | 143 | 0 | 34 | 166 | 27 | 5 | 25 | 320 |
| Merideth Marsh | 35 | 1122 | 124 | 81 | 45 | 86 | 62 | 0 | 30 | 374 |
| Jennifer Risper | 35 | 1031 | 117 | 0 | 92 | 199 | 99 | 4 | 81 | 326 |
| Jessica Mooney | 35 | 704 | 88 | 14 | 59 | 79 | 83 | 17 | 50 | 249 |
| Jence Rhoads | 35 | 1028 | 84 | 1 | 52 | 81 | 132 | 12 | 42 | 221 |
| Tia Gibbs | 29 | 372 | 52 | 24 | 19 | 71 | 17 | 3 | 23 | 147 |
| Chanel Chisholm | 34 | 387 | 64 | 0 | 43 | 100 | 14 | 8 | 35 | 171 |
| Lauren Lueders | 24 | 186 | 21 | 14 | 5 | 31 | 26 | 1 | 11 | 61 |
| Jordan Coleman | 19 | 108 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 29 |
| Ashlee Bridge | 14 | 92 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| Rebecca Silinski | 8 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Amy Malo | 19 | 107 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 12 |

## Postseason
### SEC Tournament

* Vanderbilt 69, Georgia 61
* Vanderbilt 61, LSU 47
* Vanderbilt 61, Auburn 54
March 8: The Commodores earned the SEC Tournament crown for sixth time in school history. In the championship game, Christine Wirth scored 20 points, and the Commodores (No. 23 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) beat Auburn (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) 61-54 to win the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Vanderbilt (24-8) defeated the Tigers (29-3) for the second time in three weeks to win the SEC tournament. Vanderbilt also extended its winning streak over Auburn to 15. Auburn star DeWanna Bonner was held to nine points after scoring a combined 58 in her first two games of the tournament. Whitney Boddie led the Tigers with 14 points and eight assists. This was the 10th straight year the No. 1 seed has failed to win the SEC tournament. Wirth was named the tournament's most valuable player while Jennifer Risper also made the all-tournament squad. Vanderbilt has the second-most SEC tournament titles of any program, trailing only Tennessee's 13.

### NCAA basketball tournament

Seeding in brackets
* Raleigh Regional - Raleigh, NC
** Vanderbilt (4) 73, Western Carolina (13) 44
** Vanderbilt 74, Kansas State (5) 61
** Maryland (1) 78, Vanderbilt 74

## Awards and honors

* Christina Wirth, All-Senior All-America First Team by the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award committee.
* Christina Wirth, All-SEC Honors
* Christina Wirth, SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player
* Christina Wirth, SEC All-Tournament Team
* Christina Wirth, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year.
* Christina Wirth has received honorable mention on the 2009 State Farm Coaches' All-America Team
* Jennifer Risper, SEC All-Tournament Team
* Jennifer Risper, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year.
* Jennifer Risper, The Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) has selected Vanderbilt's Jennifer Risper as the WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year.

## Team players drafted into the WNBA

| Round | Pick | Player | WNBA Club |
| 2 | 19 | Christina Wirth | Indiana Fever |
| 3 | 29 | Jennifer Risper | Chicago Sky |