Vanderbilt remains undefeated in a close win over Fairfield

Vanderbilt opened the first quarter and took a quick lead over Fairfield. After jumping out to a 17-8 lead, the Stags were able to slow things down and made the rest of the first half more difficult on the Commodores. The combination of forcing Fairfield to commit 15 first half turnovers and Iyana Moore's 19 first half points took Vanderbilt to a 38-30 lead at halftime.

Moore picked up where she left off and scored the first points of the second half, but Vanderbilt struggled toward the end of the third quarter, not scoring for 3:27 and allowing Fairfield to make five consecutive shots. The Vanderbilt defense helped secure the win in the fourth quarter. Fairfield had the ball with 26.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter and found themselves scoreless. The Commodores remain undefeated on the season after a 73-70 win today.

Three quick takes

Iyana Moore has dominant game

After missing time last season with an injury, the Commodores were looking forward to the return of Iyana Moore. Today, Moore made her presence known to all of Memorial Gymnasium. Through the first 20 minutes of the game, Moore piled up 19 points, shooting 7/9 from the field and draining three three-pointers.

The scoring continued into the second half as Moore finishes the afternoon with 25 points. She also grabbed six rebounds and snagged four steals.

Justine Pissott moves into the starting lineup, rotation was changed

For the first two contests, freshman Aga Makurat was in the starting lineup. Today, Shea Ralph made an adjustment and put Justine Pissott into the starting five. Pissott started her first game for Vanderbilt after transferring in from Tennessee. Pissott's minutes were limited in the first half after she had to sit the second quarter out due to two fouls being called on her in the first quarter.

Outside of the starting lineup change, the rotation players were brought in different from the first two games as well. Freshman Madison Greene was the first off the bench for the Commodores, followed by Ryanne Allen, who only played three minutes against UT Martin.

Forcing turnovers is key

For the third straight game, Vanderbilt has forced their opponents to give up more turnovers than they have. This afternoon, Fairfield committed 26 turnovers while Vanderbilt only gave up 13. The defense has continued to be a positive as the offense has shown their struggles at times.

Vanderbilt continues to take advantage of the turnovers they force. Today, it scored 21 points off of turnovers while also forcing Fairfield to turn the ball over on 35.6% of their possessions.