Boston College Athletics
Boston College-Vanderbilt Preview
March 23, 2003 | Women's Basketball
March 23, 2003
GAME: No. 5 Boston College (21-8) vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (22-9).
REGIONAL: East, second round.
TIME: Monday, 7:10 p.m. EST.
SITE: Constant Convocation Center; Norfolk, Va.
Vanderbilt has had little trouble in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.
Boston College has never survived them.
The fourth-seeded Commodores meet the No. 5 Eagles, with the winner advancing to the East Regional semifinals.
Vanderbilt improved to 20-5 in first- and second-round games with Saturday's 54-44 victory over Liberty. The Commodores have reached two straight regional finals and have advanced to the round of 16 in 10 of the last 13 seasons.
Boston College, on the other hand, has never played on the second weekend. The Eagles, who fell in the first round last season, lost both of their previous second-round games.
The Eagles almost didn't make the second round this year. They needed a jumper by Amber Jacobs with 3.3 seconds left to beat No. 12 Old Dominion 73-72 on Saturday.
Jacobs led Boston College with 23 points, including the Eagles' final five after they trailed by four in the final minute.
"I just can't say enough about Amber," senior forward Becky Gottstein said. "She saved our season and I am just happy to be playing another game. That last sequence really speaks to how tough we are. We wanted this game."
Boston College will be trying for a third time to beat a Southeastern Conference team in the NCAA tournament. The Eagles fell to Tennessee in the second round in 1999 and were upset by Mississippi State in the first round last year.
Ashley McElhiney scored 17 points Saturday to lead Vanderbilt, which will need to play better offensively Monday. The Commodores committed 18 turnovers and got only seven points on 3-of-7 shooting from star center Chantelle Anderson, their leading scorer.
The teams are meeting for the first time. The winner advances to Sunday's regional semifinals at Dayton, Ohio.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Boston College - F Jessalyn Deveny, F Gottstein, C Kim Mackie, G Brianne Stepherson, G Jacobs. Vanderbilt - F Abi Ramsey, F Jenni Benningfield, C Anderson, G McElhiney, G Hillary Hager.
TEAM LEADERS: Boston College - Deveny, 17.3 ppg; Gottstein, 8.4 rpg; Stepherson, 5.2 apg. Vanderbilt - Anderson, 17.8 ppg; Benningfield, 7.9 rpg; McElhiney, 7.4 apg.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Boston College - At-large bid, Big East; beat No. 12 Old Dominion 73-72, first round. Vanderbilt - At-large bid, Southeastern Conference; beat No. 13 Liberty 54-44, first round.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: Boston College - 3-3, 4 years. Vanderbilt - 26-15, 16 years.
