Box Score
Sunday, March 24, 2019
MORAGA, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team continued their postseason run in thrilling fashion, overcoming a 14-point deficit and defeating Saint Mary's 65-61 at McKeon Pavilion on Sunday evening.  

The Waves only held the lead for the last 1:28 of the game, but that proved to be all they needed. The win propels Pepperdine into the Sweet 16 of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), where they will face the University of Wyoming.

BIG WAVES
·       Yasmine Robinson-Bacote (Hillside, N.J., Hillside HS) led all scorers with 31 points and five rebounds, shooting 42 percent from the field. The senior doubled her points in the third and fourth quarters, going from eight points to begin the third to 16 and then to 31 by the end of the fourth.
·       Megan House (Oceanside, Calif./J Serra Catholic HS) did not score but her battle was won on the defensive end, swatting two shots in the most integral moments of the game and pulling down a game-high 12 boards, seven offensively and five defensively.
·       Deezha Battle (Albuquerque, N.M./Cochise College) shook off her nerves in the fourth quarter, draining all 11 of her points during the last ten minutes. Battle shot 60 percent from the three-point line, going 3 for 5 and shot 50 percent from the field.
 
GAME RECAP
The Waves came out firing in the first quarter as Malia Bambrick, Barbara Sitanggan and Yasmine Robinson-Bacote each hit key jumpers to keep Pepperdine in the game. The second quarter proved to be a challenge though, as they went 2-4 from beyond the arc and let up on defense, allowing a 16-8 run in favor of the Gaels. Saint Mary's went 4-4 from three-point range and shot 58.6 percent from the field compared to Pepperdine's 60 and 33.3 percent respectively.

In the third quarter, the Waves held the Gaels to six points through the whole quarter, scoring a total of 12 of their own. Robinson-Bacote doubled her eight points, scoring 16, while grabbing four boards all in the third. Barbara Sitanggan grabbed three quick fouls at the six-minute mark and was forced to sit until the beginning of the last quarter.

Heading into the fourth, the Gaels held the lead at 47-28 but Robinson-Bacote shot 42 percent, adding an emotional and-one to spark a 20-7 run that included three Deezha Battle treys and incredible post defense by Megan House, who blocked two shots in the frame and rejected the Gaels' bigs from scoring. Robinson-Bacote and Pepperdine exploded for 26 points in that quarter, holding Saint Mary's to 14. The Waves held on to their lead from 1:28 to the final buzzer, winning 65-61.
 
UP NEXT
Pepperdine continues their run into the postseason, heading to Laramie, Wyoming to take on the University of Wyoming Cowgirls (24-8, 13-5 Mountain West) in the WNIT Sweet 16. The Cowgirls defeated Northern Colorado 68-60 and South Alabama 78-71 in their preliminary rounds of the WNIT, but are 0-2 against West Coast Conference teams Pacific and Saint Marys. The game is set to tip at 5:00 p.m. (PST).

Follow @WavesHoops on Twitter to stay up to date on the logistics for the third round of WNIT play.