Women’s Basketball
By Hailey Amato
Staff Writer
Riding a six-game winning streak, the Pepperdine women’s basketball team took sole possession of the No. 2 spot in the West Coast Conference last Saturday with a dominant performance over Santa Clara University. They also grabbed a three-point victory against the University of San Diego Thursday night off a late-game basket from junior guard Shanell Law.
The Waves take on Loyola Marymount University Saturday in a crucial game for both teams. The Lions are currently sitting No. 1 in the West Coast Conference, but a loss to the hungry Pepperdine squad would put their standing in jeopardy. In the teams’ last meeting, the Lion’s ruined Pepperdine’s Homecoming as they outscored the Waves in the final minutes, but the Waves are not giving up yet on a third-consecutive WCC title.
“We have to beat LMU,” junior forward Jennifer Lacy said. “We’re in a strong second. We know the mistakes we made last time and in a lot of ways we beat ourselves. We need to go into the game completely focused.”
Last weekend, senior guard Shandrika Lee continued to shine for the Waves, grabbing 18 points en route to a 73-53 victory over Santa Clara (7-3 in the WCC). The win improved Pepperdine’s record to 14-10, 8-3.
“It was a pretty solid all-around game for us,” junior forward Kelli Spencer said. “It took us a long time to find an identity and really play defense as a team, but it’s so much easier to convert on offense when your defense is working.”
Pepperdine controlled the game from the tip-off, behind four Waves’ double-digit performances. Besides hot shooting from Lee, Lacy and Law also added 14 points apiece. Lacy put together an outstanding second half where she shot 100 percent from the field. Senior forward Nicole Funn registered a near double-double with 10 points and nine boards.
“We played hard on both ends of the floor,” Lacy said. “This game was everything the San Diego game wasn’t. Against San Diego we kind of let down, but I guess you could say we brought it against Santa Clara.”
The Waves held a nine-point cushion heading into the second half, and the level of play only improved over the last 20 minutes. A strong 20-8 run by Pepperdine built up an advantage that the Broncos could not overcome.
One key to the Waves’ success was Funn’s defensive effort against Santa Clara’s leading scorer, Quinn Thomas. Funn held Thomas to 0-of-6 and blocked two of her shots.
Santa Clara shot only 28 percent for the game.
The Waves shot 47.8 percent, and went 8-of-10 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes to finish off the Broncos and make the No. 2 spot in WCC all their own.
“Overall we played better as a team,” assistant coach Jody Wynn said. “It was a great way to end the weekend, seeing everyone contribute like they did.”
Thursday, in a nail-biting game that came down to one basket, the Waves outlasted USD 69-66.
“We didn’t play our ‘A’ game, but we played hard and that’s what kept us in it,” assistant coach Kai Felton said. “When it comes down to the end like it did in this game, we’ve proven that we can win. Shanell Law came up huge for us. She knew it was in the second it left her hands … she’s been waiting for that shot all year.”
Sophomore center Kelly Greathouse led Pepperdine with 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds. She was perfect from the charity stripe (4-of-4). Funn chipped in 13 points, five boards and three steals.
The Toreros led the majority of the contest as the Waves put up a somewhat lackluster performance. It was only Pepperdine’s second lead of the game when Law sealed the Pepperdine win off a three-pointer with 29 seconds to play.
“San Diego pushed the ball up the court and was able to break us down with their dribble penetration,” Wynn said. “Defensively, we gave them too many easy opportunities. However, we came together to play and finished down the stretch. Basically, we gutted out an ugly win, but we’ll take it.”
The Waves shot 44.1 percent for the evening to San Diego’s 39.2.
“It’s exciting to be on a roll,” Felton said. “We take it one game at a time. Once we got three wins, we went for four, and then five and then six. If you look too far ahead you lose sight of your goal. We’re in a good position now, going into a big game this weekend.”
Pepperdine travels to neighboring LMU to challenge the WCC’s No. 1 team Saturday at 5 p.m.
“Having won six games in a row gives us a lot of confidence,” Spencer said. “We know what it takes to win and we can do it consistently now. LMU is going to be a big game, but we’re ready for it.”
February 19, 2004