MORAGA, Calif. – Cheered on by a large group of Wave fans who traveled to Moraga, the Pepperdine women’s basketball team (7-17, 2-9) fought a hard battle to prevail over Saint Mary’s (12-14, 4-6) Saturday afternoon, at the McKeon Pavilion, 71-64.
"Oh what a feeling!" said head coach Julie Rousseau, following the game.
A fast paced first half saw the score tied three times and the lead changed 7 times. Miranda Ayim (London, Ontario, Canada) set the pace for the Waves scoring eight points in the first four minutes of the game. Hampered by missed three pointers, the Waves were down by seven points with 8:22 left in the half.
"It's great to be back in the game," said Ayim. "We played well, passed well, got stops when we needed them."
Pepperdine was plagued by missed shots in the latter part of the half, shooting 29% to Saint Mary’s 45% when the halftime buzzer sounded. The Waves ended the half down by 10 points, (39-29).
Saint Mary’s Jontelle Smith scored 20 points in the first half, contributing more than half of the Gaels points.
Ayim shooting 6-of-11 from the field notched 18 points and 10 rebounds Pepperdine to achieve a double-double by the end of the half. Jessica Ross (Gilroy, Calif. / Notre Dame HS) made the only basket from beyond the arc for the Waves in the first half. Daphanie Kennedy (Oakland, Calif. / Kearney HS) made two fouls early in the game, resulting in limited playing time for her in the half.
The second half started with the Gaels playing a strong defensive game, denying the Waves shooting opportunities and rebounds. With Kennedy’s return to play, the dynamics changed and the talented guard added nine points in the first five minutes, reducing the Gaels lead to 48-42.
With 13:28 left in the half, Ayim made a two point lay-up to reduce the margin to four, 48-44.
Back-to-back three pointers by Katie Menton (Coarsegold, Calif. / Yosemite HS) gave the Waves their first lead since scoring the initial basket of the game, 52-53. Two free-throws by Menton increased the led to 54-50.
With the intensity and pace picking up by teams, speed and agility became the key as the Gaels struggled to regain their lead. However, with 7:07 left the Waves had already scored 30 points in the second half with three Pepperdine scorers in double digits (59-54).
Back-to-back baskets by Sierra Chambers brought the Gaels within one point of the Waves with 5:10 left in the game (59-58). A Pepperdine basket and a free-shot, followed by two free-throws for the Gaels saw the score change to (62-60).
A foul on Kennedy and two successful free-shots increased the Waves lead by four (64-60) with 3:00 left. The Gaels responded with two free-shots of their own (64-62).
With 1:32 left in the contest, Ayim made her 18th rebound of the game to give the Waves possession. The battle of fouls continued with Kennedy shooting one and Louella Tomlinson making two (68-64). Ayim went to the line with :59 left making one of two shots (69-64). A
rebound by Kennedy and a foul by Saint Mary’s gave the Waves another two-point opportunity. With an extremely vocal hometown crowd, Kennedy missed the shots, then came back and repeated the rebound, foul and made both shots (71-64).
Ayim finished the game with 19 points and 18 rebounds, notching her sixth double-double of the season. Kennedy scored 20 points making 7-of-13 shots from the field and adding six rebounds, while Menton scored 12 points and had four rebounds. Tina Wickett (Vallejo, Calif. / Castlemont HS), added eight points and nine rebounds after missing the last three games.
Saint Mary’s regained possession, but time ran out with the Pepperdine winning its second game of the conference season.
The Waves play Loyola Marymount next Saturday, Feb. 23, at LMU, at 3:30 p.m.
