SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team downed Santa Clara 75-74 in a close knit game on the opening weekend of West Coast Conference play in the Leavey Center on Saturday afternoon.
After 21 lead changes throughout the game,
Marly Walls inbounded the ball with 0.3 seconds left on the clock, finding
Theresa Grace Mbanefo under the hoop to sink the winning bucket.
The Waves (6-5, 1-0 WCC) and Broncos (9-5, 0-1 WCC) battled it out right from the start and had only a one-point difference after the first 20 minutes. Santa Clara had a 64-60 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Pepperdine put up 15 points compared to the Broncos 10 to collect the victory. The Waves snapped the Broncos' four-game win streak and are now currently on a four-game win streak themselves.
BIG WAVES
- Graduate transfer guard Marly Walls (Bardstown, Ky./Nelson County HS/Bucknell) led the way with a career-high 26 points by shooting 10-for-14. She dished out five assists and had three rebounds.
- Graduate transfer forward Theresa Grace Mbanefo (Otesgo, Minn./Blaine HS/Cornell) nabbed 17 points, brought down five rebounds and had one block.
- Sophomore guard Ally Stedman (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle HS) collected 10 points and had four assists.
- Redshirt senior forward Becky Obinma (Menifee, Calif./Rosary Academy/TCU) tallied eight points and led the Waves in rebounds with six. Obinma also blocked two shots.
- Freshman forward Drea Brumfield (Chehalis, Wash./W.F. West HS) had a career-high six points which were on three-pointers.
GAME RECAP
Santa Clara scored the first bucket of the game from long range, but four points for Mbanefo gave the Waves a one point advantage, 6-5. The Broncos and Waves went back and forth exchanging the lead, before the opposition scored five straight points to make it 16-11. With under a minute left in the quarter, Stedman drained a basket and Walls followed it up with two points in the paint at the buzzer to get Pepperdine within one, 18-17.
The Waves headed into the second quarter with four straight points and Walls scored a layup to give Pepperdine the lead. The Broncos had a five-point scoring run to get the advantage back in their favor at 26-22.
KK Brodie (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge HS) put up a layup and was fouled to earn a three-point play, tying the game 26-all. Pepperdine and Santa Clara went back and forth with shots, before the Broncos closed out the quarter with a bucket and a free throw to head into the break with a one-point lead, 39-38.
Following the break, the Waves kept fighting to get the advantage back, 40-39. Santa Clara and Pepperdine exchanged shots, and the Waves held on to a two-point lead, 49-47. After the game was tied at 53, the Broncos went on a five-point scoring run to go on top. With under five minutes left in the third quarter, Santa Clara and Pepperdine went back and forth on baskets before the Broncos held a 64-60 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.
In the final frame, the Broncos added two made free throws to the lead, but Mbanefo tallied five straight to get the Waves back within one, 66-65. A five-point scoring run after two free throws from the Broncos, put the Waves on top at 70-68. Santa Clara tied the game on a Tess Heal layup, but with two minutes left, Santa Clara and Pepperdine each took turns at the free throw line. The Broncos took a 74-73 lead with three seconds on the clock, which then gave the Waves the ball. Walls inbounded to Mbanefo under the hoop, and on triple coverage, Mbanefo threw up a layup that sank for the victory.
STATS
- Pepperdine outshot Santa Clara 51.8% to 42.2%.
- There were 21 lead changes between the Waves and Broncos and 13 times where they were tied.
- Pepperdine forced 10 Santa Clara turnovers.
- The Waves put up 42 paint points compared to the opposition's 34.
- Santa Clara outrebounded Pepperdine 40-29.
UP NEXT
The Waves will cross town in Northern California and match up with San Francisco on Monday, Dec. 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the WCC Network.
