LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The #3 seeded Pepperdine women's basketball team was unable to overcome #2 seeded BYU at the Orleans Arena on Monday night, falling 68-63 in the West Coast Conference Championship semifinal.
 
The Waves led throughout a majority of the game, but a resilient Cougar offense helped the opposition rally to take the lead late in the action.  Despite a valiant attempt in the final moments of the game by Pepperdine, the Waves eventually fell to bow out of the conference tournament.
 
Yasmine Robinson-Bacote led the Waves with 19 points and 14 boards, while Malia Bambrick was good for 17 points.  Megan House added eight rebounds for Pepperdine as well. 
 
Pepperdine is now 20-11 and has hopes to continue the postseason push later in the month.
 
BIG WAVES

• Yasmine Robinson-Bacote (Hillside, N.J./Hillside HS) had a team-high 19 points with seven made from the field and two long balls.  She also marked an impressive 14 boards for the double-double.
• Barbara Sitanggan (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) added four assists and seven points.
• Malia Bambrick (Santa Clarita, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) was second in Waves' scoring with 17 points.
• Megan House (Oceanside, Calif./JSerra Catholic HS) amassed eight rebounds, nine points and four blocks.

KEY STATS

• Pepperdine went 23-68 from the field for a 33.8 success rate from the field, while adding seven threes on a 33.3% and going 10-16 from the charity stripe for a 62.5%.
• BYU went 30-61 from the field for a 49.2%, while adding four three-pointers for 36.4% and going 4-8 from the stripe.
• The Waves pulled down 51 rebounds, compared to the Cougars 29.  BYU amassed eight blocks and one steal, while Pepperdine added five blocks and a steal in the contest.

GAME RECAP
Each side came out strong, going point-for-point en route to a 15-15 tied score late in the quarter.  With 33 seconds on the clock, Yasmine Robinson-Bacote drove the line with the Waves down by one and forced a BYU foul to hit the line.  She made both to put the Waves up 18-17 heading into the second.
 
In the second quarter, Megan House started the Waves off with a jumper to set the tone and extend the lead.  Although BYU stayed close for a few possessions, a jumper from Malia Bambrick started a swing that would help her team start to pull ahead.  Robinson-Bacote scoring 18 points in the first half certainly helped the cause and she, alongside Bambrick late in the quarter helped extend the lead to 38-32 before halftime. 
 
Pepperdine continued with that momentum early in the third quarter, reaching a 47-36 lead at the 5:44 minute mark.  After a Waves' drought, though, the Cougars started to inch back in, posting a 11-2 run against the Waves to put the score at 49-47 with two and a half minutes on the clock.  Each team would score once more, keeping the two-point differential in the Waves' favor heading into the final quarter.
 
Back-to-back BYU buckets to open the quarter put Pepperdine on defense and the early see-saw battle continued in the fourth.  The Waves collected the lead at 61-60 with 5:47 left on the clock in the game, but a pair of Cougar layups gave the opposition a 67-63 lead with just under 1:30 left to play.  Pepperdine put up some shots to try and close the gap, but unlucky bounces off the rim didn't help the cause and the Waves were eventually felled 68-63.
 

We'll be back 😉 
Thank you, Waves fans! #WavesUp#wcchoops pic.twitter.com/g5uDJ8iJ1c
— Pepperdine Women's Basketball (@WavesHoops) March 12, 2019