Nov 30, 2001
MILWAUKEE - Chantelle Anderson scored 35 points to lead No. 3 Vanderbilt (8-1) over UWM, 79-64, Friday night at the Klotsche Center. The 6-foot-6 All-American aided the Commodores with strong shooting on 15-of-18 field goals, while Vanderbilt shot 57.7 percent overall.
The Panthers (3-3) couldn't respond to the towering Anderson, who didn't miss a shot until five minutes into the second half. Sinking her first 12 attempts, she was perfect in the first half on 10-of-10 from the field.
"She's awesome," UWM coach Sandy Botham said. "She's just tough to guard and tough to stop. Because she's so tall, we emphasized a lot of ball pressure. But they still got her the ball and she's got such a soft touch around the basket. She's a great player."
"I thought we did a good job of executing and I had a pretty good game tonight," Anderson said. "My teammates gave me great passes and I just had to turn around and put them in. And it's always good to hit your first perimeter shot, too."
Though UWM couldn't break Anderson's hot shooting, the Panthers did play well as a team and battled the third-ranked team to the end. Shooting 46.4 percent in the second half, UWM finished with 39.4 percent on the night and recorded 16 assists and nine turnovers. With VU's starting guard standing at 6-foot-1 and three other starters even taller, the Panthers were only outrebounded, 28-22.
"They played real hard and competed for the full 40 minutes," Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster said. "They showed great poise and they just played well."
Jessica Wilhite led UWM with 14 points, while Stefanie Kaufmann and Maria Viall each added 12. Holly Tamm led the game with six assists while also pitching in eight points. Next to Anderson's season-high 35 points, Zuzi Klimesova added 18 points and Jillian Danker scored 14 for Vanderbilt.
"I thought we could have done better on defense," Klimesova said. "They played hard and did a good job. I think their strength is their aggressiveness. There was not a minute in the game they wouldn't stop coming at us."
The Panthers came out against Vandy tough and led, 15-11, after a layup by Angela Wenzel with 6:16 into the game. Tied at 17 a piece with 11 minutes left, Vandy caught UWM on a lapse and registered a 13-0 run. Kaufmann's turnaround jumper from Tamm broke the drought with 6:27 remaining, and the teams swapped baskets for the next five minutes. VU pulled away from a 10-point lead when Klimesova recorded a three-point play and Anderson hit her 10th jumper of the half. The Commodores took the 44-29 lead into halftime, shooting 66.7 percent on 20-of-30 from the floor.
"I'm very impressed," Wilhite said of Vanderbilt. "We knew coming in it was a good opportunity to play a team like that-it shows our weaknesses and strengths. Other than that one lapse, I thought we played with them. Our fight kept us in the game and we fought to the last second."
Down, 53-31, Allison Klaas struck for UWM with her first three-pointer of the game to cut Vandy's lead to 19 points three minutes into the half. The Panthers kept chiseling away and showed good ball movement when they worked it inside to Viall for a layup. UWM got a stop on defense and Wilhite recorded a three-point play to bring UWM within 15 points with 14:37 left in the game. Following Anderson's made free throw, Christine Gutierrez's three-pointer cut UWM's deficit to 13 points where it would stay for the next few minutes.
Vanderbilt bulked the lead back up to 20 points courtesy of Klimesova's made free throws and three-pointer. But after a layup by Anderson, UWM made a late run as they scored seven straight points. The run started with a jumper by Tamm, followed by Wilhite nailing a trey with 2:06 to go in the game. The Panthers continued to get defensive stops down the stretch and Viall made a pair of free throws to cut VU's lead to 13 points. Danker added two of her own free throws to put Vandy back up by 15 points to end the game.
"I felt like our team played with no fear against them, and that's great to see. We played hard and never gave up. That shows a lot of character, and that's what is going to help us win ball games down the road."
