MALIBU, Calif. – Becky Obinma collected career-highs in points (19) and rebounds (14) for her fifth double-double of the season as the Pepperdine women's basketball team downed Santa Clara 74-59 on senior day inside Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
Obinma was 7-for-12 on the floor and only missed one free throw out of her six attempts. The Waves (5-13, 10-18) took the lead in the first quarter and never took their foot off the gas over the Broncos (6-12, 15-16).
 
BIG WAVES

• Graduate transfer forward Theresa Grace Mbanefo (Otsego, Minn./Blaine HS/Cornell) tied her season-high 20 points by shooting 9-for-16. She had eight rebounds and also tied her season-high in assists with four.
• In addition to Obinma's (Menifee, Calif./Rosary Academy/TCU) double-double, she had two steals and one assist.
• Graduate transfer guard Marly Walls (Bardstown, Ky./Nelson County HS/Bucknell) dished a career-high 12 assists. Walls also had nine points, six rebounds and a steal.
• Freshman Hailey Hoff (San Bruno, Calif./Capuchino HS) tied her season-high in points with nine. 

GAME RECAP
 
At the start of the game, the Broncos took an early 5-2 lead. The Waves then answered back with a nine-point scoring run to get the lead at 11-5. After exchanging baskets, Santa Clara made back-to-back layups to cut the Waves' advantage to two, 18-16.
 
In the second quarter, Pepperdine increased the lead to seven with a layup and a three pointer, 23-16. The Broncos and Waves went back and forth, before Pepperdine had six straight points to go into the half with a double-digit lead at 39-29.
 
Following the break, Santa Clara came out and scored the first basket and made two free throws to get the score back at 39-33 in favor of Pepperdine. Obinma had six-straight points to increase the lead back to double-digits, 47-36. The rest of the quarter was back-and-forth for the two squads before the Waves made two free throws to make it 56-44.
 
In the final quarter, Walls drained one from long range to extend the lead 59-44. Ashlee Maldonado of Santa Clara hit back-to-back three's to make it 64-52. Pepperdine scored another five consecutive points thanks to a three-point play from Walls and a Mbanefo fastbreak layup. Tess Heal for the Broncos made two free throws with one second left on the clock, but the Waves secured the victory with a held ball.
 
STATS

• The Waves out-rebounded the Broncos 46 to 22.
• Pepperdine outshot Santa Clara 48.3% to 33.9%.
• The Waves had 44 paint points compared to the Broncos' 14 paint points.

UP NEXT
 
The Waves will head to Las Vegas, Nev., for the annual University Credit Union WCC Basketball Tournament, which will begin on Thursday, March 2. The Waves' seeding and opponent will be announced by the WCC on Monday.