NOAH GODWIN
Assistant Sports Editor
The last week of the regular season in West Coast Conference women’s basketball is upon us, and there is still much left undecided.
As far as the standings go, all that is certain is that No.-25 Gonzaga University at 13-0 in conference and 24-2 overall, including the nation’s longest winning streak at 20 games, will finish first.
Pepperdine is still in a four-way race for second place.
Loyola Marymount University is 8-5, Santa Clara University is 7-5, Pepperdine is 7-6 and University of San Francisco is 6-6 in the WCC standings.
For the Waves to have a chance to claim the No.-2 spot behind the Zags for the WCC Tournament, it will have to win against LMU at home on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
The Waves will honor seniors Jennifer Lacy, Syreeta Stafford, Shannell Law and Kelli Spencer in what will be the last home game of their careers.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in for me yet that this is my last home game,” Lacy said.
Pepperdine has already beaten the Lions once this season and could claim second place outright with a win Saturday and losses by Santa Clara and San Francisco.
The Waves could slip as far as fifth place with a loss. The top seeds in the WCC Tournament do not get a bye, and the format will be the top seed plays the eighth seed, the No. 2 seed plays the No. 7 seed, and so forth.
“We are a team that has improved all year, and that’s why we have a chance to finish well and then beat Gonzaga in the tournament,” Lacy said.
Pepperdine is in a position to move as high as No. 2 in the conference after it split its two games this past week.
Sophomore forward Teiosha George scored a career-high 20 points, including 10-10 from the free throw line in the 67-53 win over Saint Mary’s College.
Junior forward Kelsey Ball scored 14 points and had a team-high eight rebounds, and Lacy chipped in 18 points.
But the difference in the game was the pressure defense from the Waves. Pepperdine forced the Gaels into 22 turnovers and held them to only three assists.
The win was only two days removed from a 72-53 loss at home to Santa Clara University.
“I don’t really know what happened against Santa Clara, but that’s just the way our conference has been all season — unpredictable,” Lacy said.
The Broncos shot .500 from the floor and were led by senior Quinn Thomas, who led all scorers with 18 points.
“They shot the ball well and we didn’t, and you’ve got to give them credit for that,” freshman Shannon Johnson said.
LMU visits at 7 p.m. Saturday night.
02-24-2005
