JANE LEE
Assistant Sports Editor
The 15th-seeded Waves came out on the court in full force with all the energy they could muster.
They came out with their core fans, a group of about 20 covered in orange and blue who were often heard cheering louder than the hundreds of others surrounding them.
They came out with celebrated sophomore guard Daphanie Kennedy, who would turn heads around the nation en route to leading all players with 31 points in the game.
Needless to say, the underdog Waves came out armed, but their No.-2 seeded opponent, Oklahoma, came out with freshman sensation Courtney Paris, and that’s all the Sooners needed to defeat Pepperdine 78-66 on Saturday at Denver’s Pepsi Center in Colorado to open the NCAA Tournament in the San Antonio Regional.
Paris finished the game with 27 points and 11 rebounds, the first three of which made her the first player in NCAA history to have 700 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a single season.
“She’s definitely a handful. She was a lot to handle in the post,” senior Kelsey Ball said. “She’s hard to push around and get out of position. She’s a great player.”
In the first few minutes of the game, Paris pulled herself out and headed to the locker room with a queasy stomach.
Many figured she had an injury or equipment problem, but the star center had been told to drink plenty of water to fight the affects of Denver’s mile-high altitude, and Paris had overdone it.
That wouldn’t stop her, as she let it all out and then followed with a typical Paris performance, recording her 26th consecutive double-double of the season in only 21 minutes of action.
“I don’t know how much more you can say about Courtney,” Head Coach Julie Rousseau said. “I got a chance to recruit her when I was at Stanford and see her dominate as a high school player. She’s definitely carried that over to the college ranks.
“She’s a phenomenal person, and she’s definitely contributing to the women’s basketball court as a player.”
Before the Paris show really got going, there appeared to be a glimmer of hope for a Pepperdine upset in the opening minutes of the game, as the Waves relied on solid defense to keep the score close. Struggles from the field, however, and an inability to get the ball inside the key let Oklahoma pull away for good.
In front of a crowd of 2,511 at a game that was nationally aired on ESPN2, Pepperdine shot 8-for-32 in the first half and was held scoreless in the paint. Oklahoma scored 14 points alone as a result of Wave turnovers, and Pepperdine did not score a field goal in the opening half after the 7:09 mark to head to the locker room down 36-19.
“Our goal was to slow them down in transition,” Rousseau said. “Putting a lot of ball pressure on the ball was the game plan, but I don’t think we did that as well at the start as we did at the end.”
The second half saw the Waves shoot 14-for-39, finishing at 35 percent for the contest. Kennedy scored 23 of her 31 points in the last half as Pepperdine cut into an Oklahoma 29-point lead.
“I think there was a point where we definitely thought a comeback was possible,” Ball said. “When we were down by 10 with only a few minutes left, we were still in the game.
“You can score 10 points in a minute, so at the end we did think the comeback was within reach.”
The Waves wouldn’t get much closer, however, as the Sooners got 23 points from the bench to help Oklahoma clinch the victory and earn a trip to the second round of the tournament.
“It’s a loss, so of course it’s disappointing,” Kennedy said. “It hurts a lot, but you learn from your losses.”
Despite the loss, Pepperdine did not allow for what many around the country had been expecting: an embarrassing, 40 to 50 point blowout.
“I think that everyone got to really enjoy what I’ve had an opportunity to enjoy all year, and that’s just how tough our women really are, how strong they are, strong in character,” Rousseau said. “They showed a lot of fight and I’m very proud of them.”
Even Oklahoma Head Coach Sherri Coale commented on how impressed she was with the Waves’ play.
“I think that Pepperdine competed for 40 minutes,” Coale said. “Daphanie Kennedy sure put on a show.”
This was the fourth meeting between the two teams, the first in the NCAA Tournament and the first away from Firestone Fieldhouse. The win improved Oklahoma to 3-1 in the series record with the Waves.
Pepperdine, which opened the season 1-6 and lost 11 of its first 14 games, came into the contest riding on an eight-game winning streak, including three straight wins for a surprising victory in the West Coast Conference tournament to become the fourth team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament with a losing record.
“We got a taste of the type of effort that’s required to get to this level, and we have a lot that we can build on,” Rousseau said.
Pepperdine, just the third team to advance to the tournament with a losing record, fell to 0-4 in the NCAAs.
For a team that wasn’t supposed to make it this far, Pepperdine sure put up a fight as the underdog, and Rousseau couldn’t be more proud.
“God has definitely guided us through a very successful year,” Rousseau said. “I want to thank Him and thank my players for a great year.”
03-23-2006