MALIBU, Calif. – Jayla Ruffus-Milner hit a layup with six seconds left in the game to give the Pepperdine women's basketball team its first West Coast Conference win of the season, defeating PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount 51-49. Malia Bambrick had a game-high 17 points.

The win is the first for the Waves (4-13, 1-12 WCC) since late December when the team defeated New Mexico State.
BIG WAVES

• Junior guard Malia Bambrick (Santa Clarita, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) led all scorers with 17 points. She was 3-for-6 from three, and 7-for-12 overall. She also had three rebounds.
• Senior center Tara Dusharm (Foley, Minn./Saint Louis) had a season-high 13 points, shooting 4-for-6 from the field and making all five free throws she attempted. She also tied for the lead for the Waves in rebounds, with nine.
• Redshirt-sophomore forward Jayla Ruffus-Milner (West Hills, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS) hit the shot to win the game in the fourth quarter, and had six total points, and was tied for the lead in rebounds with nine.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves started off the first quarter on fire, going on a 9-0 run to open the game. However, the Lions scored the last 11 points of the first, taking an 11-9 lead at the end of the first ten minutes. In the second, the two teams were very evenly matched, going back-and-forth with the lead, until halftime, when the score was tied at 24.

After the break, the Waves took control of the game, never trailing in the third. They went up by as many as eight points in the quarter, leading 41-33 with just ten minutes to play.

 Pepperdine got its largest lead of the game early in the fourth, going up 44-33 on a Bambrick three. The Lions would not go quietly into the night, slowly chipping away at the lead until, with 5:36 left in the game, got to within two points. The Waves went back up by four points, but a layup from LMU got them to within two. Another layup from the Lions tied the game at 49 with seven seconds left in the game. On the inbound pass, Jayla Ruffus-Milner slipped around the Lions' defense, and Kendall Carson (Juneau, Alaska/Juneau Douglas HS) got her the ball wide open in the post for an uncontested layup with just six seconds left. An errant three-pointer from LMU gave the Waves their first victory in two months.

HIGHLIGHTS


KEY STATS

• The Waves outshot the Lions 37% to 32%.
• Pepperdine also out-rebounded LMU 45-30.
• The Waves led for 29:07 of the game, compared to LMU's 7:31.

QUOTABLE

UP NEXT
The Waves have a quick turnaround, as they host San Diego on Monday in a make-up game. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.