Sunday, March 23, 2008; Posted: 05:19 PM
"With this young team, it's a total different feeling than I've ever had," said Melanie Balcomb, who coaches the fourth-seeded Commodores (23-8) into tonight's late NCAA Tournament first-rounder here against No. 13 seed Montana (25-6).
Different in that last year, Vandy won the SEC tournament, rated a No. 2 seed and felt the burden of expectations.
"We had three seniors who were a core part of this team, and I know they felt a lot of pressure and we wanted to win for them," said All-SEC junior forward Christina Wirth. "I think this year we are just going to go out there and have a fun time and not feel that much pressure."
Balcomb's leap-year rebuilding process included inserting a freshman at point guard in 2004. Jence Rhoads, at 5-foot-11, averages only 3.7 points per game, but more telling is her nearly 2-to-1 assists-to-turnovers ratio in SEC play.
"She doesn't get any credit, and hence no pressure," said Balcomb of Rhoads. "At the same time, as she has gotten better, we have gotten better."
Another freshman, 6-1 Hannah Tuomi, had wriggled her way into the starting lineup by January. And in both cases, the rookies are backed up by veterans.
Behind Rhoads is sophomore Jessica Mooney, who ratchets up the game's tempo with her speed. Balcomb likens the switch to the effect subbing a quarterback can have on a football team's offensive attack.
Mooney shared the honor of SEC "Sixth Woman of the Year." Meanwhile, a past twotime recipient of the award sits beside her on the bench.
Liz Sherwood, 6-4 center, got the season off to an incredible start, hitting a remarkable 40 of her first 48 shots (83 percent) from the field. But by conference play, Balcomb wanted Sherwood's infusion of offense off the bench.
"She's a huge presence in the post," said Balcomb, "and whether she scores or not, she changes the game. It really works well that way because two (freshmen) are getting experience. And then most teams get weaker when they go to their bench. We get better."
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