LAS VEGAS, Nev. – After being held to just one field goal during an 11-minute span in the second half, the Pepperdine women’s basketball team suffered a 76-69 defeat to San Diego in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament at the Orleans Arena on Saturday afternoon.

 

Third-seeded Pepperdine (16-13) had a first-round bye at the tournament, while sixth-seeded USD (18-12) had to rally back from a second-half double-digit deficit to beat San Francisco, 73-64, in the first round.

 

The Toreros followed a similar script in this game, as Pepperdine led by 11 at 43-32 with 18 minutes left, and were up by nine at 56-47 with 11 minutes to go when USD began its comeback.

 

Pepperdine senior forward Taylor Smith (Waialua, Hawaii/Kalaheo HS) scored a team-high 16 points and made three of four three-pointers. Junior forward Miranda Ayim (London, Ont., Canada/Saunders Secondary) and sophomore guard Joy Lelo (La Canada, Calif./La Canada HS) each scored 10 points. Senior guard Nakeya Isabell (Seattle, Wash./Cleveland HS/College of Southern Idaho) had a strong all-around performance with nine points, eight assists, five steals and four rebounds.

 

USD got 30 points on 12 of 16 shooting from Kiva Herman and 16 points from Morgan Henderson, which included a 10-for-10 performance from the foul line.

 

“Congratulations to San Diego, their kids played extremely hard and showed a lot of fight,” Pepperdine Coach Julie Rousseau said. “Our kids played as hard as they could, it just didn’t turn out in our favor. But I’m proud of this team and the season we’ve had. I’m looking forward to our seniors going on to do wonderful things, and having our underclassmen back and ready to go next year.”

 

The Toreros took their last lead of the first half at 14-13 with 10:58 to play, but Smith drained a three-pointer a minute later to put the Waves back in front 16-14. Another Smith three-pointer would push the lead to six at 23-17 with eight minutes left.

 

Running jumpers by Lelo and freshman guard Lauren Bell (San Bruno, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral HS) made it an eight-point game at 31-23 with three minutes left. Later, a jumper by Smith and a driving lay-up by Lelo pushed the advantage to nine at 35-26 with 1:30 left. The Toreros cut the deficit down to five points and were set to take the last shot of the half, but Lelo made a steal at midcourt and went in for a lay-up just before time expired, making the halftime score 37-30.

 

The Waves hit half of their 24 shots in the first half and might have led by more if not for 15 turnovers. The Toreros could have made the same claim, however, as Pepperdine also forced 15 turnovers. The Waves built their lead largely without two starters – Ayim and senior guard Jessica Ross (Gilroy, Calif./Notre Dame HS) – who picked up two early fouls and sat out the rest of the half. Lelo and Smith came off the bench to help pick up the slack with 10 points apiece.

 

Pepperdine took its first double-digit lead early in the second half. Freshman center Alex Jarrell (Shelbyville, Tenn./Shelbyville Central HS) scored in the post, and after the Waves stole the inbounds pass, Isabell sank a short jumper, making the score 43-32 with 18 minutes left. Later, a jumper by Ayim with 11:15 left gave the Waves a 56-47 lead with 11:15 left.

 

The foul count was a crucial factor in the second half. The Toreros were in the bonus less than six minutes into the second half, and didn’t have any fouls called on them to that point. When USD reached the double bonus, the foul count was 10-2. Ayim, Pepperdine’s leading scorer for the season, picked up her third foul early in the second half, as did Isabell, and Ayim committed her fourth just after making the basket that made the score 56-47.

 

“The disparity in fouls in the second half turned the tide,” Rousseau said. “Our best players were on the bench with foul trouble, and that hurt our rotation and rhythm.”

 

With the rotation unsettled, Pepperdine went into an offensive funk. The Waves were outscored 20-3 from that point, and USD went from nine points down to up by eight at 67-59 with 1:30 left thanks to the run.

 

The Waves started putting points on the board via the free throw line, but got no closer than four points. USD drained 11 of 12 free throws in the final two minutes to ice the win.

 

After Jarrell made a jumper with 8:58 left, the Waves wouldn’t get another field goal until Isabell sank a three-pointer with 0.1 seconds left to account for the final margin.

 

The Waves shot 37.0% from the field in the second half and ended at 43.1%. The Toreros upped their percentage to 51.9% in the second half and finished at 46.0%. Pepperdine finished with 26 turnovers to USD’s 20.

 

The Waves will say goodbye to five seniors: Isabell, Ross, Smith and forwards Alisha Bryant (Pacoima, Calif./Chatsworth HS) and Dana Huley (Pasadena, Calif./La Salle HS). They helped Pepperdine to 16 wins overall and nine in WCC play this season, the most in their four or five years with the team.