Feb. 10, 2011

Box Score

Pepperdine and Portland Box Score (Feb. 10, 2011)

PORTLAND, Ore. - Pepperdine's and Portland's women's basketball teams went to overtime for the second time this season Thursday night at the Chiles Center, but once again it was the home team that prevailed as the Pilots limited the Waves to six extra-session points en route to a 78-73 victory.

The win raised Portland's overall record to 13-11 and 4-5 within the West Coast Conference, while Pepperdine dropped to 15-9 and 6-4.

Portland grabbed the game's final lead with 3:12 left in the second overtime on a three-point play by forward Natalie Day, who registered a double-double of 23 points and 16 rebounds.

With Pepperdine clinging to a 73-71 advantage, Day was fouled on her way to the basket by Katie Menton (Coarsegold, Calif./Yosemite HS) and coolly delivered one of the Pilots' 18 points from the charity stripe.

For close to the next three minutes, however, both teams went without scoring a single point, and when it appeared that Menton's block of Alexis Byrd's shot with 18 seconds remaining would lead to a go-ahead basket by Jazmine Jackson (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep) the ball instead rimmed out and was rebounded by the Pilots' center Lauren Angel.

Angel's two free throws put Portland up by three, and then after Menton missed her 3-point attempt, ReZina Teclemariam put the game on ice with another successful pair of foul shots.

The Pilots also received two free throws late in the first overtime from Byrd that sent the game into double overtime. Byrd hit her shots with 1:42 to go and then watched both teams go scoreless down the stretch. Teclemariam had a chance to end the game early, but her missed layup was rebounded by Lauren Bell (San Bruno, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep).

While Portland ultimately benefitted in the end from 23 trips to the foul line, Pepperdine would have never had a second (or third) chance to top the Pilots if Jackson hadn't singlehandedly erased a six-point deficit over the final 15 seconds of regulation.

Portland appeared to have the game won after Teclemariam sank two free throws that put the Pilots up 67-61, but Bell rebounded her own missed 3-pointer and quickly dished the ball out to Jackson whose long-range jumper with six seconds to go cut the lead in half.

Five seconds later the game was miraculously tied thanks to Jackson's composure at the free-throw line.

After Day missed the front end of a one-and-one with her team up 67-64 and three seconds remaining, Jackson grabbed the rebound and was subsequently fouled by Tara Cronin on a desperation 3-point attempt with one tick on the clock. All three of Jackson's free throws tickled the twice as she finished the game with a team-high 15 points, plus six assists and seven rebounds.

In addition to Jackson's all-around solid performance, Pepperdine also received an outstanding effort from sophomore forward T'Keyah Shealy (Englewood, Colo./Regis Jesuit HS), who came off the bench and played in excess of 40 minutes to record her first career double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds.

Shealy's 16 boards, 11 of which came off the defensive glass, were the most by a Wave since Miranda Ayim pulled down 18 at Saint Mary's on Feb. 16, 2008. The all-time record of 33 was established by Maureen Formico vs. Loyola Marymount on Feb. 15, 1985.

A Shealy basket with 9:45 left in the first half marked Pepperdine's biggest lead of the night (19-12), but a 19-8 Portland run to finish the period gave the home team a four-point cushion heading into halftime (31-27). The Pilots continued to build on their lead early in the second half after receiving a 3-point bucket from Nakeisha Brown, which were her lone points of the game, and then picked up back-to-back baskets from Day and Teclemariam around the 14-minute mark that kept it a three-possession game.

Pepperdine's offensive sprung back to life shortly thereafter and the Waves' grabbed their first lead of the second half on Robie Mayberry's (San Leandro, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd HS) 3-pointer with 11:49 remaining. From there, the two schools would experience five more lead changes and ties.

The Waves shot 36.7% from the field (29-79) and were particularly ineffective from 3-point range (4-19) in the first period and both overtimes. Pepperdine also missed seven of its 18 free-throw attempts in an uncharacteristic fashion, and were outrebounded, 54-48.

One area where Pepperdine dominated as it has all season long is the bench, and tonight the Waves' reserves outscored the Pilots by a 28-8 margin.

Portland shot just as poorly as Pepperdine from the floor, but made four more 3-pointers and connected on 78% of its foul shots (18-23).

The Waves continue to lead their all-time series vs. the Pilots, 33-19, but four of their last seven meetings have been decided in overtime with Portland winning three of them. Pepperdine won the season's first contest against the Pilots at home last month in overtime, 68-58, but had not played a double overtime game since Dec. of 2005, losing 81-75 at Long Beach State.

Pepperdine returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. for a showdown with first-place Gonzaga. The Bulldogs remain undefeated in conference play at 9-0 following their 40-point Thursday night win over Loyola Marymount, 82-42.

In other WCC action Saint Mary's topped Santa Clara, 75-70, to go up one game on the Waves for second place in the conference at 7-3.