MALIBU, Calif. – Daphanie Kennedy and Miranda Ayim each scored at least 20 points to lead the Pepperdine women’s basketball team to a 91-79 victory over UCLA on Wednesday night at Firestone Fieldhouse.

 

Kennedy (Oakland, Calif./Kearny HS) poured in a season-high 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting and was 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, and also recorded seven assists. Kennedy reached the 1,000 point plateau for her career in the game. while Ayim (London, Ont., Canada/Saunders Secondary) posted her third double-double of the season with 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting and added 11 rebounds.

 

The Waves shot 45.8% from the field for the game compared to 40.8% for the Bruins, finished 30-of-35 from the free-throw line to the Bruins’ 14-of-23, and made seven three-pointers to UCLA’s three. After holding a narrow 36-33 lead at the half, the Waves outscored the Bruins 55-46 in the second half en route to the 91-79 win.

 

“It was a good win,” Pepperdine Coach Julie Rousseau said. “The team was excited to be back on the court, and we played with poise and confidence and it was a great team effort.”

 

The Bruins got off to a quick start and led 9-3, but a 6-0 Waves run knotted the score at 9-9. From there, the Waves went on a 18-8 run to open up the largest lead off the half, at 27-17. The Bruins responded with a 16-6 run to tie the score at 33-33, until Alisha Bryant’s (Pacoima, Calif./Chatsworth HS) first career three-pointer with four seconds left in the half gave the Waves a 36-33 edge before intermission. Pepperdine shot 41.4% from the floor in the half and limited UCLA to a 31.0% shooting percentage, but were outrebounded 29-22 in the half by the Bruins.

 

In addition to Kennedy and Ayim’s performance, the Waves received strong contributions from Katie Menton (Yosemite, Calif./Yosemite HS) and Teiosha George (Palmdale, Calif./Palmdale HS), who each scored 10 points.

 

Up next, the Waves travel to Seattle, Wash. to face the University of Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.