NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The second year of the Cameron Newbauer era kicks off on Friday night in Nashville when the Belmont women's basketball team travels to take on neighborhood rival Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt enters Friday's matchup fresh off a dominating 93-31 win over Coker in exhibition play to open the 2014-15 campaign. The top returning scorer from last season is Rebekah Dahlman, who averaged 11.4 points per game while Morgan Batey is Vandy's top returning rebounder, after pulling down 5.3 boards per contest.
The Commodores went 18-13 overall and 7-9 in the SEC one year ago. VU advanced to the NCAA Tournament, earning the No. 8 seed before being upset by ninth-seeded Arizona State.
This will mark only the 15th time the neighboring rivals will do battle on the hardwood and the first time since 2007. Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, 9-5, and has won the last seven meetings.
Belmont wrapped the first year with Newbauer at the helm with a 14-18 mark overall and a 10-6 mark in the OVC to finish second. The Bruins advanced to the final of the OVC Tournament, falling to champion UT Martin but not before securing a berth into the WNIT. BU was edged in the first round on the road at Indiana, 48-47.
The Bruins return all five of their starters from one year ago, led by 2014-15 OVC Preseason Player of the Year Jordyn Luffman-Hartsfield (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.), who averaged 14.3 points per outing. Also returning are classmates Katie Carroll (Lilburn, Ga.), a 2014 All-OVC Tournament Team selection, Taylor Mills (Corryton, Tenn.), who earned league Newcomer of the Week honors six times last year and Adrienne Tarrence (Bowling Green, Ky.) . Sophomore Frankie Joubran (Detroit, Mich.) rounds out the team's top returners.
Friday night's contest is set to tipoff at 7 p.m. The game can be heard live on the Bruins Sports Network with play-by-play duties falling to Dr. Rich Tiner with Wes Boling on the color call. It will also be broadcast live on the SEC Network. Live stats and an in-game Twitter feed (@BelmontWBB).
