Traveling occurs when a player moves one or more of her feet illegally, usually by picking up her pivot foot after she has already stopped dribbling.
The referees in Vanderbilt’s 78-73 win on senior day over Arkansas might want to brush up their understanding of the definition.
In the final seconds of the first quarter, Rachel Bell chased down a loose ball, but collided with an Arkansas player as she was still gaining possession. She fell to the ground and was whistled for traveling.
Memorial Gym erupted with shouts questioning the poor call.
Late in the second half, Kayla Overbeck was called for traveling twice, though the second call was undoubtedly correct. The first time, with 1:52 left the in the half, Overbeck was called for traveling as she fought her way to get a shot off in the paint. The second time, just 42 seconds later, she clearly traveled as she searched for someone to receive a pass.
Vanderbilt women’s basketball has a contingent of passionate fans who did not forget the earlier call against Bell, and they continued to berate the officials until the conclusion of the half.
The first half started slow for the Commodores. The game plan was to get the ball to the posts in the paint and have them fight their way to shoot. Once Vanderbilt was down 16-7 less than six minutes into the game, players started to take what was available to them: long two-pointers and threes.
Rachel Bell, who came in for Christa Reed, drained two three-pointers and a mid-range shot in the final three minutes of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Vanderbilt had to make another adjustment. The team had trouble on offensive fast breaks with overthrown passes, so they began to slow down to set up the offense. This change helped keep the game close.
At the end of the first half, Vanderbilt trailed 36-32.
Overbeck and Bell led the team in the first two quarters with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Overbeck, however, also led the team in turnovers with five until that point.
Vanderbilt outrebounded Arkansas 25-15 in a physical first half and won the rebound battle 50-30 for the game.
The Commodores kept coming up with defensive rebounds in the third quarter, which helped them take a 49-48 lead heading into the final quarter.
Erin Whalen added five points and Christa Reed scored four in the third.
Vanderbilt’s slow pace of play led to two shot clock violations in the third quarter and another near-violation.
To start the fourth quarter, Arkansas’ Devin Cosper and Vanderbilt’s Whalen traded deep three-pointers.
With 3:52 left in the game, an Arkansas player fell to the ground after a collision in a very similar situation to Bell’s. In this instance, a technical foul was called on Kaleigh Clemons-Green. It was difficult to even hear the foul’s announcement over the boos of thousands of furious fans.
Cierra Walker hit her first three of the game less than 20 seconds later to energize the crowd.
Arkansas’ Kiara Williams made a layup to tie the game at 64, but seconds later, Kayla Overbeck responded with an emphatic drive to the basket that also drew a foul. She made the free throw to complete the three-point play to retake the lead.
She made a layup on the next possession to extend the lead to five.
Walker was fouled with under a minute left and made both her free throws to briefly increase the margin to seven.
Overbeck finished the game with a career-high 24 points and nine rebounds. Reed scored 11, and Bell added 10.
In the final 30 seconds, with the win wrapped up, Bell and Myka Dancy joined Reed in the game. The three seniors enjoyed the final moments of their last home game as Commodores.
