TAYLOR BIRD
Sports Assistant
Senior guard Daphanie Kennedy led the Pepperdine women’s basketball team as it snapped an 11-game road losing streak with a 71-64 victory over conference rival St. Mary’s on Saturday. The win was the first by the Waves (7-17, 2-9 WCC) on the road since Dec. 4 in Washington and also ended a seven-game overall skid.
On Saturday, St. Mary’s (12-14, 4-6 WCC) jumped out to an early lead, but sophomore center Miranda Ayim scored 8 points in the game’s first four minutes to help the Waves tie the game at 13 with 14:42 left in the first half.
The Gaels found the lead again, taking a 29-24 edge at the 6:36 mark. Guard Jontelle Smith then led her team on a 6-0 run that widened the Gaels’ lead to 10 points at halftime, 39-29.
“We’ve been in the down by 10 at halftime position many, many times,” junior forward Dana Huley said. “We figured that we’d already beaten this team before so we might as well beat them again.”
The Waves’ offensive end was held in check at the beginning of the second half. But Pepperdine soon found its rhythm, and a layup by Ayim at 13:28 decreased St. Mary’s lead to just four at 48-44.
Freshman guard Katie Menton knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to put the Waves ahead, 52-50. Although St. Mary’s did not see a lead for the rest of the game, the Gaels kept the score close and only trailed by one with 5:10 to play. But the Waves put on the pressure after that point and pulled away to take the victory, 71-64.
“We just played well,” Head Coach Julie Rousseau said. “We played better defensively. We rebounded well … All those things were definitely positive and allowed us to win the game.”
Ayim recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Kennedy led the team in scoring once more with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Menton added 12 points and 4 rebounds.
Pepperdine shot a second-half 51.9 percent from the floor and 37.7 percent overall (26-for-69).
The Waves wrap up their three-game road trip Saturday at Loyola Marymount (14-12, 6-5 WCC) for a 3:30 p.m. matchup. They will then return home for their final two games of the season, Feb. 28 against San Diego and March 1 against San Francisco.
Before the March 1 game, Pepperdine will honor senior players Kennedy, Nakeya Isabell, Shannon Johnson and Teiosha George in its annual Senior Day ceremony. Rousseau said she hopes fans will come out and support the seniors and the rest of the squad in their final game before conference tournament play.
02-21-2008