MORAGA, California – The Pepperdine women's basketball team dropped a road contest to Saint Mary's 70-53 on Saturday afternoon. The Waves were led by Ally Stedman with 17-points. 

The Waves (4-7, 0-2 WCC) outscored the Gaels (8-6, 2-1 WCC) in the first quarter 23-22, but Saint Mary's responded and outscored Pepperdine the next two quarters. The Waves started to get hot again in the fourth quarter, but were unable to make the comeback. 

BIG WAVES

• Ally Stedman (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle HS) banked 17 points by shooting 7-for-15, and had two assists and a career-high six steals. 
• Kendyl Carson (Juneau, Alaska/Juneau Douglas HS) notched a season-high 10 points, and had two assists and four steals. 
• Malia Bambrick (Santa Clarita, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) collected nine points. 
• Eve Braslis (Newton, Victoria, Australia) had seven points and brought down 10 rebounds. 

GAME RECAP

Pepperdine scored the first three points of the game thanks to a Meaali'i Amosa (Garden Grove, Calif./Mater Dei HS) free throw and a Stedman jumper. The Gaels answered back with a bucket of their own, but the Waves hit three back-to-back-to-back three-point shots to take an 11-4 lead. Saint Mary's went on an 8-0 scoring run to cut the margin by one, 14-13. After back and forth baskets from each side, Bambrick hit a basket from downtown to extend the Pepperdine lead to 21-15. The Gaels turned it up a notch and ended the quarter with a layup to head into the next frame only down by one, 23-22. 

In the second quarter, the Waves extended the lead again to 28-22. The Gaels then went on a 6-0 scoring run to tie the game at 28-28. Pepperdine was unable to get a basket to sink and Saint Mary's went into the half with the lead at 33-28 after an 11-0 scoring run.

The Gaels increased their scoring run to 17 straight points right after the half to go up 39-28. Carson hit one from long range to get the Waves back within eight, at 39-31. Another 7-0 scoring run for Saint Mary's put the Gaels up 46-31. The Gaels ended the third quarter with a 53-35 lead.

Jayla Ruffus-Milner (North Hills, Calif./Harvard-Westlake HS) scored the first basket of the final frame, but another 6-0 scoring run for Saint Mary's put the Gaels up, 59-36. The Waves had a 6-0 scoring run of their own to make the score 61-44. Stedman hit two final three-pointers for the Waves, but were unable to make the comeback. 

STATS

• Saint Mary's outshot Pepperdine 55.3% to 29.9%. 
• The Gaels outrebounded the Waves 41-29. 
• Pepperdine forced 25 turnovers and had 14 steals to Saint Mary's six.
• The Gaels had 12 assists, while the Waves had seven.
• Saint Mary's had a 42-16 edge in points in the paint.

UP NEXT 

Pepperdine returns home to host PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, Jan. 18. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on the WCC Network.