LAS VEGAS, Nevada – An outstanding defensive performance led the Pepperdine women's basketball team to its biggest win of the season and advancement to the West Coast Conference Championships semifinals for the second straight year, as the sixth-seeded Waves upset third-seeded BYU, 62-51, in Saturday's quarterfinals.
Pepperdine (16-14) led the game for 34:33 and BYU (18-11) only led for 13 seconds. The Waves were up 45-43 after three quarters but outscored the Cougars 17-8 in the fourth. The 51 points were the fewest given up by Pepperdine all season.
First-year head coach
Kristen Dowling directed the Waves to a signature win as they defeated the Cougars for the first time in four tries at the WCC Tournament and posted their first-ever win against BYU away from Malibu. It also denied BYU a three-game sweep of the Waves this season.
BIG WAVES
- Senior guard Hannah Friend (San Clemente, Calif./Sacramento State) scored a team-high 15 points.
- Senior guard Barbara Sitanggan (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) had 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
- Junior forward Monique Andriuolo (Melbourne, Australia) scored 12 points.
- Senior guard Paige Fecske (Studio City, Calif./Chaminade HS) came off the bench to score nine points, all of which came in the game's final 12 minutes.
KEY STATS
- The Waves were terrific defensively, limiting BYU to 32.7% shooting overall and 3-for-15 (20.0%) on three-pointers. They also forced 10 turnovers.
- Pepperdine shot 39.3% from the field.
- The Waves outrebounded the much-bigger Cougars at +10 (43 to 33) and pulled down 15 offensive rebounds.
- BYU had three players score in double-figures, led by Paisley Johnson's 15 points.
PLAY BY PLAY
Pepperdine went up by as many as four in the first quarter before taking a 16-13 lead at the first break. The Waves then scored the first six points of the second quarter on jumpers by sophomore guard
Malia Bambrick (Santa Clarita, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) and Andriuolo and a lay-up by Friend to make it 22-13 with eight minutes to go.
The Waves would have a couple of opportunities to make it a double-digit game, but unfortunately hit an extended drought and would not score for the next 6:54. BYU, meanwhile, scored 10 consecutive points to take its only lead of the game at 23-22 with 1:21 left. Friend would score the final five points of the half, however, and Pepperdine would go into the intermission with a 27-23 advantage.
Early in the third quarter, Andriuolo made a three-pointer and a jumper, followed by a Bambrick lay-up, putting the Waves up eight at 34-26. At 36-29, the Cougars went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 38 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. Tied at 40, Fecske hit a three-pointer to give Pepperdine the lead, and the Waves would take a 45-43 lead at the end of three.
Both teams shot 4-for-13 from the field in the fourth quarter, but Pepperdine got to the free throw line often and went 9-for-9 in the final frame, while BYU was just 0-for-1. BYU scored first in the quarter to tie it at 45, but wouldn't score again for nearly three minutes. Meanwhile, Sitanggan scored four points and Friend made two free throws to put Pepperdine up 51-45.
At 51-47, Fecske made back-to-back jumpers to extend the lead to 55-47 with five minutes left. Neither team scored for nearly three minutes, but BYU got a basket with 2:18 left to pull within 55-49.
Sitanggan converted a three-point play with 1:38 left, then sank two free throws with 1:06 to go to give Pepperdine a double-digit lead at 60-49. Fecske hit two free throws with 55 seconds left to make it 13, and BYU scored a consolation basket late to account for the final margin.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine moves on to face second-seeded San Diego in the semifinals on Monday (March 9) at 2 p.m. The game will be shown on the WCC Network and by BYUtv, and there will be an audio-only WaveCasts with Al Epstein.
