March 8, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -Christina Wirth scored her only points of the game with 1:45 left to break a tie at 41, and No. 21 Vanderbilt advanced to the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament for the eighth time in nine years by holding off Auburn 49-44 Friday night.
The defending tournament champion will play No. 3 Tennessee, a 92-61 winner over Florida. The Commodores (23-7) have won four straight since losing to then-No. 1 Tennessee on Feb. 17. They are seeking their fourth tourney title in seven years, which also would be their third in as many tournaments at the Sommet Center one mile from their home gym.
Sixth-seeded Auburn (20-11) came in hoping to add another postseason win to burnish its bid for an NCAA tournament berth. The Tigers were in the quarterfinals for the third time under coach Nell Fortner, but they haven't reached the semifinals since 1997, when they won the title in Chattanooga.
They went home early again at the hands of a rival that now has beaten them 13 straight times, although they came close to ending that skid.
DeWanna Bonner, the SEC's second-best scorer, hit two free throws with 2 minutes remaining to force the only tie of a game Vanderbilt led throughout and by as much as 12. Wirth, Vandy's leading scorer who had missed her first eight shots, hit a jumper that put the Commodores back up to stay.
Vandy hit its final six free throws in the final 65 seconds to clinch the victory, and Auburn managed only a jumper by Bonner with 1.2 seconds left.
Merideth Marsh and Jessica Mooney led Vandy with 10 points apiece.
Bonner finished with a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds.
The Commodores took advantage of a cold start by Auburn as the Tigers hit only one of their first eight shots and three of the first 17. Vanderbilt led 23-15 at halftime and scored the first two buckets of the second half to go up 27-15 on a basket by Hannah Tuomi.
Auburn stuck around thanks to the free throw line and the Commodores' own mistakes. The Tigers sank as many free throws (16-of-27) as Vandy attempted (12-of-16), and they scored 17 points off the Commodores' 19 turnovers.