MORAGA, Calif. – Despite having one of its best shooting games of the year, the Pepperdine women's basketball team fell 85-78 to Saint Mary's on Thursday night. Barbara Sitanggan led the Waves with 20 points.

The Waves (7-6, 1-2 WCC) shot 41.1% from the field, and 38.7% from three, but were met by fire power from the Gaels (8-6, 3-0 WCC), who shot 50% from the field and 57.1% from beyond the arc.

BIG WAVES

• Senior guard Barbara Sitanggan (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) led the charge for the Waves, scoring 20 points and shooting 5-9 from beyond the arc. She also had four rebounds and two assists.
• Sophomore guard Malia Bambrick (Santa Clarita, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) put up 17 points, including shooting 3-8 from three.
• Senior guard Deezha Battle (Albuquerque, N.M./Cochise College) had 10 points.
• Junior forward Monique Andriuolo (Melbourne, Australia/Maribyrnong Secondary College) had eight points and eight rebounds, which led the Waves.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The first quarter of play was very evenly matched, with the teams trading baskets throughout. The Gaels hit a couple of threes toward the end and took a 19-16 lead into the second quarter.

The second was more of the same, as the teams traded the lead back and forth. The Waves took a 37-33 lead with four minutes to play in the half, but Saint Mary's went on a 10-point run to end the half with a 43-37 lead.

In the third, the Waves caught fire. To start the quarter, Pepperdine was 7-7 from beyond the arc, and took their largest lead of the game at 58-51 with 5:26 left in the quarter. The Gaels caught up, making a number of threes of their own, and led 65-60 to end the third. Both Sitanggan and Bambrick had three three-pointers in the third.

Saint Mary's pulled ahead in the fourth, never leading the Waves by less than three points. Pepperdine did have a chance to get within three with just seconds left on the clock after Sitanggan drew an offensive foul, but a three-pointer got blocked as time wound down, giving the Gaels the victory.

KEY STATS

• The Waves did not reach the free-throw line at all until the fourth quarter, where they shot 6-8 from the line. Saint Mary's shot 19-22 from the foul stripe.
• The Gaels out-rebounded the Waves 41-30.
• Pepperdine got a lot of help from non-starters, as they got 17 points on the night.

UP NEXT
The Waves head to Stockton to take on Pacific on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.