It was like night and day for the Pepperdines women’s basketball team this weekend at Firestone Fieldhouse. On Thursday Pepperdine appeared to be recovering from the holidays in their game against San Diego losing 69-57 in a game that was filled with frequent turnovers and inconsistent shooting. On Saturday the women turned it around to defeat St. Mary’s 62-56.
That is not to say the Waves didn’t try on Thursday – they executed a full court press for most of the entire game but it was not enough to stop the fast break offense of San Diego. The Waves were outscored 22-6 in the first eight minutes of the game which was an indication of what the rest of the game was going to be like.
A steal by senior Jessica Ross with five minutes left in the first brought the Waves within 10 the smallest gap all game. By halftime San Diego’s improved shooting increased the lead to 13 leaving a halftime score of 39-26.
At the half San Diego had shot 48 percent from the field which was far superior to the 31 percent shot by the Waves.
The Waves did not give up in the second half but neither did San Diego who scored two immediate three pointers putting them up by 18. The Waves unfortunately were only able to respond to San Diego’s improved shooting and unstoppable fast break offense with missed layups.
The Waves excited Pepperdine fans with a pull-up by Ross a three-pointer by freshman Jazmine Jackson and followed with a steal for a layup by freshman Skye Barnett at the end of the game which helped bring the Waves close. But it was not quite enough to give them the lead and the game ended with a disappointing 69-57 loss for the Waves.
“I don’t feel like we came out with the intensity we needed to play said Pepperdine Head Coach Julie Rousseau, following the loss.
Barnett, who scored 10 points for the Waves, expressed disappointment with the team’s performance.
We need to come out with more intensity Barnett said. We were kind of disappointed we didn’t come out hard.”
Saturday’s game against the St. Mary’s Gaels was a completely different take on Pepperdine women’s basketball. The Waves seemed to take the fast-paced offense run against them on Thursday and became statistically impressive with five steals and only nine turnovers in the first half.
Even with this intensity though the Waves were consistently 10 points behind the Gaels. They allowed St. Mary’s 18 points inside and had to compete with a 52.4 percent Gael shooting average.
By halftime the Waves had brought the game within five and left for the locker room trailing Saint Mary’s 28-33.
The second half started with equal offensive intensity as the Waves showed in the first with Ross hitting a three point shot in the team’s second possession.
The half was also marked by frequent drives by senior Nakeya Isabell who hit layups and also kicked to her teammates for multiple outside jump shots.
Despite frequent steals and many strong offensive possessions the Waves had a difficult time overcoming the Gaels lead for most of the second half.
With 3:52 left in the game the Waves took over and brought the game within two points. A jump shot by Alex Jarrell with 2:20 knotted the score at 54.
Pepperdine was able to find other ways to compete against the dominant St. Mary’s performance in the paint. A three-point basket by Jackson put the Waves up by one with 39 seconds left in the game.
Isabell solidified the Waves lead by making 3 out of 4 free throws with fewer than 10 seconds left in the game.
The Waves ended the game 62-56 a 6-point advantage over Saint Mary’s.
Coach Rousseau said her team’s performance this game was much better than the previous one.
“I felt the intensity was better coming out and that is what we have to do just be intense she said.
Hopefully the Waves will be able to keep up the intensity and grab another victory this Thursday the 22nd at Gonzaga.