MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women’s basketball team upset Portland at a televised West Coast Conference game on Thursday evening, 64-55.

 

“There were great contributions from the entire team tonight,” said head coach Julie Rousseau. “Our rebounding, steals and overall defense really made the difference.”

 

Miranda Ayim (London, Ontario, Canada) led the scoring for the Waves (14-11, 7-4) with 15 points and nine rebounds. Joy Lelo (La Canada, Calif./La Canada HS) had a career-high 11 points, four rebounds and five steals, while Taylor Smith (Waialua, Hawaii/Kalaheo HS) also scored 11 points. Portland’s Allyson Sievers was the game high-scorer with 16 points, five rebounds and one steal.

 

“It was a team effort,” said sophomore guard Lelo. “We went out hard on defense and let it create our offense. This was a big win for us. We’re finally bringing it together as a team.”

 

Pepperdine shot 31.8% from the field to Portland’s 42%. The Waves had 14 steals to the Pilots (15-11, 8-4) seven and 21 turnovers to 25 Portland turnovers.

 

The Waves started a strong first-half with a 17-2 scoring run beginning with 15:06 on the clock. Ayim contributed eight of the 17 points. Portland’s Jennifer Wassom ended the run with a 3-pointer at 7:47 and the Waves on top at 23-16.

 

With 5:11 left in the half, Lelo made a shot from beyond the arc to give the Waves a 10 point lead at 28-18. The Pilots answered with a jumper by Allyson Sievers which was followed by back-to-back buckets by Smith. Pepperdine led 32-20, with 2:55 on the clock. Laiken Dollente responded with a 3-pointer followed by a shot in the paint by Sievers to close the scoring gap to seven points at 32-25.

 

The half ended with Lelo drawing a foul and making a free-throw shot and Sievers shooting a jumper. The Waves were up 33-27 when the buzzer sounded.

 

Lelo was a force for Pepperdine in the first half with 11 points shooting 3-for-5, four steals and three rebounds. Pepperdine had five steals to the Pilots two.

 

Jessica Ross (Gilroy,Calif./Notre Dame HS) started the second half off with a 3-pointer for the Waves.  Alex Jarrell (Shelbyville, Tenn./Shelbyville HS) followed with shot in the paint at 17:19 and Pepperdine leading 38-27.

 

Sievers shot a layup with 17:40 on the clock to start a 12-2 Pilot scoring run. Portland was down by one point at 40-39, with 15:07 left in the half. Smith ended the run with a shot from beyond the arc for the Waves at 12:32. Portland’s Karlie Burris responded with a 3-pointer of her own to put the Pilots within one point once again, at 43-42 and 12:09 on the clock.

 

Jazmine Jackson (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep.) drew a foul and made a free-throw followed by a layup by Skye Barnett (Albuquerque, N.M./Cibola HS) and a free-throw shot. Ayim and Jackson continued the run with shots in the paint to put the Waves up by eight at 50-42 and 10:25 left in the game.

 

The teams traded baskets until Nakeya Isabell (Seattle, Wash./ Cleveland HS) shot a 3-pointer with 4:15 on the clock. Dollente answered with a 3-pointer of her own followed by two free-throws by Burris to put the Pilots within four points of Pepperdine at 57-53 and less than four minutes on the clock.

 

With 3:07 left in the game Burris drew a foul, yet missed an opportunity to close the gap with two missed free-throws.

 

Pepperdine drew two fouls and made all four shots ending with 25 seconds on the clock and the score at 61-53. Dollente drew a foul and made her shots with 19 seconds on the clock. Ayim went to the line and made two more shots for the Waves with 17 seconds left in the game and Pepperdine up 63-55.  Isabell added another foul shot with 7 seconds remaining and a final score of 64-55.

 

The Waves meet the No. 1 team in the WCC on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 2 p.m. in the Firestone Fieldhous. The game marks the final home game of the season for Pepperdine and a tribute to the graduating seniors.