Final Stats

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. - It came down to the wire in Portland, but the Pepperdine women's basketball team couldn't find the final shot it needed, falling 81-79 on the road in a West Coast Conference contest.

Erica Ogwumike scored a career-high 34 points, matching the program's ninth best single-game total, but it wasn't enough as Portland got two late free throws to go ahead. The Waves fall to 5-18, 1-11 WCC, while Portland moves to 3-20, 1-11 WCC.

Pepperdine came back from being down 12 late in the fourth quarter, tying the game with 33 seconds to play on an Ogwumike jumper. Kaylie Van Loo would hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds however, putting the home team back up by two. Pepperdine had three attempts at a game tying or winning shot, but couldn't get the final bucket to fall.

The Waves trailed 75-63 with 3:10 to play, but made a furious fourth quarter comeback, going on an 11-2 run to make it a three-point game with 1:25 left. Van Loo hit a pair of foul shots to push it back to a 79-74 game, but after a Paige Fecske (Studio City, Calif./Chaminade HS) free throw, Allie Green (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento HS) capitalized on a Portland turnover with a quick jumper to make it a two-point deficit.

Another turnover on the very next possession by the Pilots gave the Waves the ball with under a minute to play and Ogwumike (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Woods HS) would tie it with a floater in the lane.

Ogwumike finished the day hitting 12-of-23 shots and going 5-of-13 from beyond the arc. The freshman guard hit back-to-back threes to spark the Pepperdine run after the Waves fell behind by 12 in the fourth quarter. Ogwumike also scored 14 points in the first quarter after Portland jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game.

The Waves also got 12 points from both Green and Yasmine Robinson-Bacote (Hillside, N.J./Hillside HS). Ogwumike also led the team with seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.

Portland shot well above their season average in the game, hitting an even 50 percent of their shots. The Pilots had five players score in double figures on the night, with Van Loo and Hannah Mattson leading the way with 16 points each.

Pepperdine will be back in action on Saturday as they head to Gonzaga for a 2 p.m. game. That contest can be heard on WaveCasts via PepperdineSports.com.