The game against San Diego at the Firestone Field House on Thursday night started out dismal for the Waves. Pepperdine’s full court press had a difficult time stopping the consistent fast break offense of San Diego who outscored the Waves 22-6 in the first eight minutes of the game.
Frequent turnovers for both teams and back and forth shooting allowed San Diego to keep a double-digit lead throughout most of the first half.
With five minutes left to go in the first a steal by Jessica Ross gave the Waves momentum to close San Diego’s sixteen-point lead to ten. Improved shooting by San Diego towards the end of the half increased the lead to 39-26 at the end of the first half.
The Waves had the last possession of the half but were unable to convert the layup that would have closed the lead to eleven. At halftime San Diego had shot forty eight percent from the field which was far superior to the thirty one percent shot by the Waves an indication of the consistent lead held by San Diego.
The second half started with a San Diego three-pointer by Amber Sprague which increased the fifty percent shooting percentage they shot from behind the arc in the first half. Less than two minutes later Sprague scored another three pointer putting San Diego up by eighteen.
Skye Barnett fired up the Waves scoring two free throws after being fouled on a drive and freshman Lauren Bell scored a three pointer during the Waves next possession. The Waves were unable to keep the momentum for long enough to gain the lead.
San Diego was able to slowly increase their lead during a second half that was plagued by missed layups for the Waves and the continued and seemingly unstoppable fast break offense run by San Diego.
A pull-up by Jessica Ross three-pointer by Jazmine Jackson followed by a steal for a layup by Skye Barnett at the end of the game gave Firestone Fieldhouse a short burst of excitement but it wasn’t enough to bring the Waves back.
The game ended in a disappointing 69-57 loss for the Waves.
Skye Barnett who helped lead the team with ten points said “We need to come out with more intensity at the beginning. We are kind of disappointed we didn’t come out hard.”
Head coach Julie Rousseau said similar things.
“I just felt like we didn’t come out with the intensity we needed to play said Head Coach Julie Rousseau.
She is hopeful about the next game though.
I felt in the second half our intensity picked up. If we can have that intensity from the beginning we give ourselves the chance to be successful.”
The women’s next game is Saturday at 2:00 PM in the Firestone Fieldhouse against St. Mary’s.