Gallery: (12-21-2024) Women's Basketball vs. Santa Clara
The Pepperdine women's basketball team fell late in the first game of West Coast Conference play against Santa Clara Saturday afternoon.
Five Waves scored double digits in the gut-wrenching conference opener. Up by two at halftime, the Broncos (7-5, 1-1) went on a run in the third quarter that would hold despite the late push in the final minutes by Pepperdine (5-5, 0-1).
BIG WAVES
Senior
Ella Brubaker (University Place, Wash.) surpassed a career 1,500 points with a 17-point game, bringing her overall total to 1,512.
Freshman
Chloe Sotell (Samford, Conn.) dropped 14 points and dished out three assists.
Senior
Megan Harkey (Summerfield, N.C.) put up 12 points with seven rebounds.
KEY STATS
The Broncos shot nearly 43 percent behind the arc, accounting for over half of their overall points.
Encompassing the whole game, Pepperdine out-shot Santa Clara from the field 47 percent to 39 percent.
The Waves outscored the Broncos in the paint a stunning 46-26.
Capitalizing on turnovers, including eight steals, the Waves scored 19 off Bronco errors.
RECAP
From tip-off, it was evident this game would be a hard-fought battle. Halfway through the first quarter, it was 6-5 with a Waves lead, but the minimal scoring showcased the necessity to capitalize on any and all opportunities at the basket. With eight points in the first quarter alone, Sotell kept it rolling from her career-high 24 point performance in New Mexico last Sunday.
After 10 minutes, the Waves led 16-13.
Outshooting the opposition 54 percent compared to 47 percent in the second quarter, the Waves were the more consistent team through the first half. Four beyond the arc would give Santa Clara a two-point edge in the quarter, but Pepperdine still held the lead 34-32 at the break.
The Broncos came out the gate swinging in the second half. Netting five of the eight threes thrown up, the Waves struggled to match the scoring efficiency. Two baskets by Brubaker in the quarter put her over the 1,500 point threshold in her career. The Washington native sits at seventh all-time in the Pepperdine record book for points scored in a career with nearly ⅔ of the season to go.
With one quarter remaining, the Waves had a deficit to overcome, down 51-56.
Pepperdine grinded all ten minutes of the fourth quarter, fighting back to tie the game. Seven from Brubaker helped to knot the game at 65 with just over two and a half minutes to go. The two teams exchanged layups and 51 seconds remained with a score of 67-67.
With two overtime thrillers in Firestone Fieldhouse this season, the Waves were not wary of overtime. However, trying to win the game in regulation, the Waves went to the post that had proved reliable the entire game and it would be Harkey who maneuvered around the Bronco defense to score a clutch layup, giving Pepperdine a two-point lead with 32 seconds to go. Santa Clara's Alana Goodchild drained a three with 22 seconds to go. After a series of turnovers on both sides, the Waves did not get a chance at the basket to counter.
Pepperdine lost a heartbreaker 69-70.
UP NEXT
After the holidays, the Waves travel to Pullman, Wash. to face new-WCC foe Washington State Dec. 28. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. pst. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) and stats can be found on pepperdinewaves.com
