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MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine Women's basketball team opened West Coast Conference play, and continued a three-game winning streak, on Thursday night with a victory over Gonzaga by a score of 79-69. Freshman Barbara Sitanggan led the Waves with 19 points as four Pepperdine players scored in double figures to help the Waves beat the preseason conference favorites.

The Waves (3-9, 1-0) beat the Bulldogs (9-3, 0-1) using 25 second-chance points and a 50-33 rebound advantage in a game where the lead changed nine times.

"This is a huge win for us as a program," said head coach Ryan Weisenberg, who led Pepperdine to its first win over the perennial WCC powerhouse Zags for the first time since 2009. "We got there by working hard and staying with it tonight. If you look at it, we just outrebounded a team with a lot more height by a good margin. That was huge."

The Waves, who led by two points to start the fourth, got off to a hot start in the final period, with four quick points by Yasmine Robinson-Bacote (Hillside, N.J./Hillside HS). Free throws by Sitanggan (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) and Sydney Bordonaro (Pittsburgh, Pa./Burrell HS) brought the Waves lead to five with six minutes left in the game. The Waves lead got as large as ten points in the fourth quarter, which was also the largest lead of the game. Pepperdine sealed the game at the free throw line, hitting 23-of-30 foul shots in the game and 9-of-10 in the final minute of play.

Gonzaga cut it back to a five-point game with 1:10 to play, but Sitanggan hit four consecutive foul shots to put the Waves ahead 74-65 with 34 seconds left. Allie Green (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento HS) also made four free throws in the final 20 seconds and the Bulldogs never got closer than within seven points before the final buzzer.

"She (Sitanggan) is like our Magic Johnson; 19 points, six big rebounds, six assists, 13-of-15 from the free throw line," said Weisenberg. "She came to play tonight, and it showed big time."

After a back-and-forth first quarter, Gonzaga led the Waves, 13-12 thanks to a half-court, buzzer-beating three to end the period. Pepperdine responded behind a strong second quarter from Bordonaro who hit an early three to give the Waves the lead. She added another two threes in the quarter to put the Waves up at the half by a score of 36-33. Megan House (Oceanside, Calif./J Serra Catholic HS) led the way on the boards with seven in the first half, helping the Waves to a 29-17 rebounding edge in the first two periods.

The Waves opened the second half strong, beginning the third quarter on a 5-0 run. The Bulldogs pulled their way back into the game, tying it at 48-48 with a minute left in the quarter. Sitanggan hit two free throws in the last minute to give the Waves the lead after three quarters, 50-48.

Along with Sitanggan's 19 points, Robinson-Bacote had 18, Bordonaro had 14, and House had 12. Robinson-Bacote also notched 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year. House also had nine rebounds.

Pepperdine had a 25-6 second-chance points edge thanks to a 19-7 lead on the offensive boards. Gonzaga came in shooting 37.1% from three, but hit just 5-of-28 (17.9%) long balls on Thursday. The Waves were 6-for-22 from long range, getting four threes from Bordonaro.

Gonzaga got 22 points from both Kiara Kudron and Jill Barta. The Zags were receiving votes in the national polls coming into the game.

The Waves continue WCC play on Saturday against the Pilots of Portland at 1 p.m. in Malibu. The game will be broadcast live on theW.tv.