Nov. 22, 2014 Final Stats
Pepperdine-UTM Box Score 
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Keitra Wallace's three-point play with 24 seconds left and Ea Shoushtari's steal right before the buzzer gave the Pepperdine women's basketball team a thrilling 59-58 victory over UT Martin in the consolation game of the Hawkeye Challenge on Saturday.
There were 11 lead changes in the second half, the second-to-last of which came with 30 seconds left when UT Martin's Jessy Ward nailed her sixth three-pointer, putting the Skyhawks (1-4) up 58-56.
After a timeout, Pepperdine (2-2) ran an inbounds play for Wallace (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS), who found herself all alone on the right baseline. She drove in for a lay-up and finished the play despite being fouled with 24 seconds remaining. The junior forward completed the three-point play, giving her a team-high 18 points, and putting the Waves back on top by one point.
"The plan was to go to Keitra," Pepperdine Coach Ryan Weisenberg said. "She came off two screens, and they were switching and maybe lost her a bit. Keitra is very smart, she didn't settle for a jumper, she recognized that no one had picked her up and she knew she could get to the rim. She did really well to finish the play despite the contact. It was a heads-up play."
On UTM's final possession, the Waves were able to deflect a pass out of bounds with 2.1 seconds left. On the final inbounds pass, the Skyhawks got the ball to Ashia Jones near the left block, but she had trouble controlling the ball and Shoushtari (Los Angeles, Calif./LACES) ripped it out of her hands as the clock expired for her fourth steal of the game.
Wallace, who was named to the Hawkeye Challenge All-Tournament Team, also had a team-high seven rebounds plus two steals. Senior guard Bria Richardson (Hawthorne, Calif./Serra HS) had 14 points, sophomore guard Allie Green (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento HS) scored all of her 11 points in the second half and Shoushtari added nine points.
Pepperdine built an early lead and took its biggest lead of the night at 18-10 after Wallace made a three-pointer with 10:22 to go. But the Waves only made two of 14 field goals the rest of the half, and the Skyhawks rallied for a 28-25 advantage at the break.
After UTM opened the second half with a basket to take its biggest lead of the game at five points, the Waves went on a hot spell. Shoushtari got things going with a three-pointer, while Green made two from beyond the arc. The Waves led for most of the second half after going ahead 38-37 on a Green basket, though never by more than five points.
UTM tied the game at 52-52 with two minutes left, but the Waves went back in front by two after a bucket by Richardson. Ashia Jones put the Skyhawks ahead with a three-point play, but Richardson again made a key basket on the next trip down the floor, making 56-55 in the Waves' favor with 1:06 to go, setting up the final few possessions.
"I think at times we've struggled to find out identity and we've hard time getting through some of the lulls," Weisenberg said. "When other teams have gone on a run, we haven't been able to get over that final hurdle. But we did that tonight. The girls made the biggest adjustment themselves in the second half. They battled, and that's what I'm most proud of."
After shooting 29.0% from the field in the first half, the Waves improved to 48.3% in the second to finish at 38.3%. UTM was held to 33.8% shooting for the contest. The Skyhawks' Ward led all scorers with 23 points.
No. 18 Iowa, which defeated Pepperdine on Friday night, won its own tournament with a 90-83 victory over Dayton in Saturday's nightcap.
In addition to Wallace, the all-tournament team consisted of MVP Samantha Logic (Iowa), Bethany Doolittle (Iowa), Ally Disterhoft (Iowa), Andrea Hoover (Dayton) and Jessy Ward (UT Martin).
Pepperdine plays its fifth consecutive game on the road at Cal Poly on Tuesday (Nov. 25) at 7 p.m. Fans can listen to the game via WaveCasts at PepperdineSports.com. The Waves will finally have their home opener on Sunday, Nov. 30, against Army at 1 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse.
