MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine women's basketball team closed out the non-conference schedule with a 56-54 win over Boise State on Saturday inside Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves were led by
Cheyenne Givens, who had 14 points.
Though the Broncos (3-7) outscored the Waves (4-5) in three of the four quarters, Pepperdine had a huge second quarter with a 23-11 margin, taking the lead and never giving it up.
BIG WAVES
- Senior guard Cheyenne Givens (Gardena, Calif./Serra HS/ Los Angeles Trade-Tech) led the way with 14 points, shooting 6-for-7 and 1-for-2 from long range.
- Redshirt junior forward Becky Obinma (Manifee, Calif./Rosary Academy/Texas Christian) posted nine points, shot 3-for-6, brought down six rebounds and blocked four shots.
- Freshman guard Ally Stedman (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle HS) collected nine points and had two assists and two steals.
GAME RECAP
Pepperdine scored the first two baskets thanks to Givens, but Boise State was able to take the lead 10-8 after the first ten minutes.
In the second quarter, the Waves turned it up and took the lead 13-10 thanks to a three-point play by Eve Braslis (Newton, Victoria, Australia/Geelong College/Utah Valley) and two free throws by
Kendyl Carson (Juneau, Alaska/Juneau Douglas HS). Boise State got one bucket back, but a layup and a shot from long range by Stedman put the waves up by seven, 18-11. At 22-19 the Waves ended the half on a 9-2 run to go into the break with a 31-21 lead.
Right out of the half, Boise State banked a layup, but so did Obinma to keep the lead margin at 10, 33-23. It was a lot of back-and-forth, but Pepperdine was able to stretch the margin to 11 three times throughout the quarter, including 46-35 with under one minute to go in the third. Boise State hit a jumper with two seconds left in the third quarter to cut the deficit to nine heading into the final 10 minutes of play at 46-37.
In the final quarter, the Broncos had the first layup, which was answered back by a Givens layup to keep the Waves' lead at 48-39. Pepperdine had a five-point scoring run to get its biggest lead of the game, 53-41. It was 55-44 with under four minutes to play, but Boise State hit three three-pointers to close within two points at 56-54 with under a minute to play. On the last possession, the Broncos had a three-point attempt to win the game at the buzzer, but it was well off the mark.
STATS
- The Waves and Broncos were nearly even in shooting 40.4% to 39.2% in favor of the Broncos.
- Pepperdine out rebounded the Boise State 37-32.
- The Waves had eight steals compared to the Broncos' two.
- Pepperdine and Boise State were even with points in the paint at 28.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Kristen Dowling:
Redshirt junior forward Becky Obinma and senior guard Cheyenne Givens:
UP NEXT
Pepperdine will take over a week break before kicking off the West Coast Conference schedule hosting Pacific on December 30. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and will be live on the WCC Network.
