JANE LEE
Assistant Sports Editor
The Pepperdine women’s basketball team came up big last weekend, snapping a three-game losing streak by grabbing dominant victories over San Diego and San Francisco at Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Waves’ (5-4, 8-14) first win came Feb. 2 when they rolled over San Diego, 73-55, in a West Coast Conference showdown.
Pepperdine would jump out to a 4-0 opening lead and never look back, as it outplayed the Toreros and expanded its lead to as much as 19 in the first half.
In the opening stanza, the Waves shot 56.7 percent compared to San Diego’s 35.7. Sophomore Daphanie Kennedy tossed in 12 points on 4-6 shooting, while freshman Sherriel Boyd added 10 on 5-7 shooting from the floor.
After outscoring the Toreros 41-26 in the first half, the Waves saw their double-digit lead quickly disappear after halftime, as San Diego cut Pepperdine’s lead to as few as nine with a little more than 14 minutes left to play.
Pepperdine would regain control of the game with just under 10 minutes remaining as the Waves went up by 16, 61-45. Their lead would peak at the seven-minute mark when Kennedy converted a lay-up and a free throw to extend their lead to 20 with a score of 68-48.
Kennedy led all scorers with 17 points, while senior Kelsey Ball pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Help came from every direction for Pepperdine, which received double-digit scoring totals from five players, with Ball accounting for 14, Boyd tossing in 13, and freshman Jessica Ross and junior Jasmane Clarendon totaling 10.
San Diego received 15 points from Tiara Harris, while teammate Kelly Winther added 13. Another notable performance came from Sabine Loewe, who grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.
“We played well together,” Head Coach Julie Rousseau said. “The girls had a lot of focus and intensity, and we were able to work a lot on our motion offense.”
Kennedy continued her great play on the court two days later, leading the Waves with 13 points to defeat San Francisco 75-55.
Joining the talented guard in double figures for the Waves was Boyd and Clarendon with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The Waves built a 36-23 halftime lead on the strength of 50 percent shooting from the field. The Dons (2-7, 6-16), on the other hand, managed just 31 percent from the floor during the opening 20 minutes of play.
Pepperdine continued its offensive streak in the second half, leading by as many as 16 points before San Francisco cut the deficit to eight points at 48-40 with just about 10 minutes remaining. The Dons, however, would get no closer as the Waves answered with another run of their own to build a 15-point lead with just under four minutes remaining to secure the victory.
LaShaunte Stephens, the only Don to reach double figures, scored a game-high 24 points for visiting San Francisco.
“We’re hopeful we can continue playing this way,” Rousseau said. “We’ve got to keep this thing going.”
Pepperdine, now riding on a two-game winning streak, returns to action Saturday when it travels to cross-town rival Loyola Marymount. The Waves, hoping to come up big and erase the memory of the recent one-point, heartbreaking loss to the Lions, will take on their opponent at Gersten Pavilion beginning at 5 p.m.
“After facing them once, we now know we can compete with the best team in the conference,” Rousseau said of the upcoming match. “We’ve just got to play to the best of our abilities and we know we can win.”
02-09-2006
