PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team suffered its second loss of the Friar Holiday Classic on Thursday to La Salle, 62-55. Deezha Battle led the Waves with 13 points.

The Waves (5-4) led for the entirety of the first quarter, but were overtaken by the Explorers (3-9) in the second half, and could not complete the comeback in the final minutes of the game.
BIG WAVES

• Deezha Battle (Albuquerque, N.M./Cochise College) led the Waves with 13 points, including two three pointers.
• Yasmine Robinson-Bacote (Hillside, N.J./Hillside HS) had 10 points, and brought down 9 rebounds, the most on either side.
• Malia Bambrick (Santa Clarita, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) had 10 points and five rebounds.
• Barbara Sitanggan (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) had six points, seven rebounds and four assists.

GAME RECAP
The First quarter was a strong one for the Waves, holding the Explorers to only six points. Bambrick had six of the Waves' 12 points, while Mia Satie (Perth, Australia/Iona Presentation College), Robinson-Bacote and Megan House (Oceanside, Calif./J Serra Catholic HS) supplied the rest. Pepperdine started the second quarter on a 5-2 run, but a 6-0 run from the Explorers brought the game to a 23-23 tie going into half time.

La Salle started the second half on a 5-0 run, which the Waves did eventually bring back to a tie, thanks to five free throws. However, the Explorers managed to retake the lead in the final minutes of the quarter, taking a 39-36 lead into the final 10 minutes of play. The final period of play was an intense battle between the two teams. Pepperdine retook the lead on a Sitanggan jumper with 6:38 left on the clock. Back-and-forth baskets from both teams resulted in a tie ball-game with just under five minutes to play. After a time-out, La Salle went on a 4-0 run and took a lead that they would never relinquish. The Waves did pull within three points thanks to a three-point shot from Battle with 16 seconds left on the clock, but it was too little too late, and the Explorers took the victory.

UP NEXT
The Waves play in their final game of the tournament Friday at 9 a.m. PT against Northern Kentucky.