Nov. 23, 2010

Box Score

Pepperdine and Boise State Box Score (Nov. 23, 2010)

MALIBU, Calif.- Redshirt junior guard Katie Menton tied a career high with six 3-pointers and led all players with 18 points in Pepperdine's 82-65 win over Boise State Tuesday night at Firestone Fieldhouse.

The victory lifted the Waves' record to 3-2, while the visiting Broncos dropped to 3-2.

Menton (Coarsegold, Calif./Yosemite HS) sank four of her long-range attempts in the first half, including one that tickled the twine with seven seconds remaining to give Pepperdine a 37-23 halftime lead. Then, coming out of the break both she and junior guard Jazmine Jackson (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) combined to hit six of the team's first 11 shots that put the Waves up by 24 at the first media time out, 53-29.

Jacksonfinished the game with 12 points, marking her fourth double-digit effort of the season.

Also scoring in double figures was sophomore guard Shay Cooney-Williams (Frisco, Texas/Frisco HS), whose 10 points helped keep the Broncos at bay during their late second-half run.

Cooney-Williams poured in seven points during a two-minute stretch (10:07 to 8:47) during which Boise State began adjusting to Pepperdine's full-court press. She later buried a clutch 3-pointer with 4:44 remaining that snapped a streak of three straight Bronco field goals.

Elsewhere on the court, junior guard Lauren Bell (San Bruno, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) just missed her first career double-double, scoring nine points and dishing out a team season best eight assists.

The offense's success was the net result of defensive diligence, and for the fourth straight game the Waves forced in excess of 20 turnovers. Boise State coughed up the ball 26 times, 16 of which came off Pepperdine steals.

"Our defense dictated the tone of the game and put us in the driver's seat early to win," head coach Julie Rousseau said. "The rebounding was exceptional throughout ... T'Keyah (Shealy) really stepped it up under the boards and was part of a great overall team effort. I also thought it was important that we didn't dig ourselves into a hole in the first half despite making 15 turnovers. We still have to continue to focus on what it takes to play a complete game."

Pepperdine won the battle of the boards, 39-33, with Shealy leading the Waves with seven to go along with her eight points, two assists and two steals. Shealy's point and rebound totals were both career game highs.

Both schools shot approximately 40 percent from the field in the opening half; however, the Waves made up for that deficiency with better 3-point shooting and more trips to the free-throw line. The Broncos were sent to the stripe just three times compared to 12 for the Waves, who were successful in 75 percent of their attempts.

BoiseStatescored 16 of their 23 first-half points in the paint but struggled from outside the arc, hitting just 1-of-8 long-range shots.

The Waves also dominated first-half rebounding by a 23-11 margin, while their wire gang was credited with 10 thefts.

Despite being down by as many as 30 points, Boise State refused to throw in the towel and closed the game on a 20-7 run with all but two of those points coming via layups by Janie Bos (11 pts.) and Janelle Kearney (10 pts).

Julia Marshall led all Broncos with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

BoiseState's late-game layup drill boosted its overall field goal percentage to 47.3 percent, but the 3-point shot continued to elude the Broncos and they finished the game shooting just 16 percent (3-18). Pepperdine shot 42.6 percent from the field on 29-of-68 shooting.

Pepperdine returns to action Friday with a 2 p.m. home game vs. the Temple Owls of the Atlantic 10 Conference.