MORAGA, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team had three players in double-figures, but fell 68-58 to Saint Mary's on Saturday afternoon in the University Credit Union Pavilion.
 
Redshirt senior forward Becky Obinma had her first double-double of the season, highlighting the game with 12 points and a season-high 12 boards.
 
Despite out-rebounding the Gaels (8-8, 2-3 WCC), the Waves (6-10, 1-5 WCC) fell behind in the first quarter and were unable to make the comeback attempt.
 
BIG WAVES

• Junior forward Jane Nwaba (Carson, Calif./Palisades Charter HS) led the squad with 13 points. She had four rebounds, a block and a steal.
• Graduate guard Marly Walls (Bardstown, Ky./Nelson County HS/Bucknell) collected 11 points and brought down eight boards.

GAME RECAP
 
The Waves notched the first basket of the game on a Obinma (Menifee, Calif./Rosary Academy/TCU) layup. Saint Mary's answered with an eight-point scoring to take the lead. Pepperdine cut the deficit in half, 8-4, with a made jumpshot by Rosemary Odebunmi (Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria/Sierra Canyon HS). The Gaels scored five points with under a minute left in the first quarter to take a 13-4 lead.
 
In the second quarter, Pepperdine and Saint Mary's went back-and-forth, though the Gaels had a three-point play to go up by double-digits at 21-10. The Waves scored seven straight points to get back within four, 21-17. The Gaels went back up by seven after two made free throws, 26-19. With under 30 seconds left in the quarter, Walls made a layup to get within three to head into the break 28-25.
 
After the break, Saint Mary's got hot and scored 10 points to take a 38-25 lead. The Waves had five straight points to make it 46-35, but SMC made a free throw to extend the lead to 12-points heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
In the final frame, the Gaels scored the first two buckets to make it 51-35. The Waves made a layup and hit one from long range to get within 11 at 51-40. Saint Mary's went on a five-point scoring run to increase the advantage, 58-43. Obinma collected four-straight points of her own, but Saint Mary's answered back with six-straight to advance the score to 64-47. In the final minute of play, Nwaba drained a three-pointer and layup, before Saint Mary's held the ball to collect the win.
 
STATS

• The Waves out-rebounded the Gales 46 to 35.
• Saint Mary's outshot Pepperdine 38.6% to 32.3%.
• The Gaels forced 14 Waves' turnovers.

UP NEXT
 
The Waves will be back in Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday, Jan. 12 when San Diego comes to town. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the WCC Network.