Jane Lee
Sports Editor
Almost two weeks ago the Pepperdine women’s basketball team opened West Coast Conference play with a win over Portland.
Three games later, the Waves have yet to get that second conference win.
Head Coach Julie Rousseau’s Waves first fell to Gonzaga by a score of 58-35, a point total that set a new school record for fewest points in a game, breaking the previous mark of 37 set in 1977.
What followed that game was a 73-71 loss to San Diego in which the Waves squandered a 12-point second-half lead, allowing the Toreros to snap a 13-game skid against Pepperdine.
And just when the Waves appeared back to their old scoring selves Saturday against San Francisco, the Dons erased a first-half Pepperdine lead and grabbed a 77-65 win despite watching five different Waves score in double figures.
Needless to say, the high-powered winds blowing around Malibu these days have not been in the Waves’ favor.
“We’ve really been trying to work on defense because that’s been the biggest struggle in our recent losses,” freshman Miranda Ayim said. “We’ve been scoring a lot of points but so have the other teams because we don’t have the defense to stop them, especially late in the game.”
Along with defense, Ayim said communication is key in getting back in the win column in conference play.
“During practice we’ve been trying to communicate more, and it all relates back to defense,” Ayim said. “So if we have the communication and we can come up with the points at the end, we won’t be losing by one or two points.”
Pepperdine will look to turn the wind in its favor when it travels to cross-town rival Loyola Marymount for a men-women doubleheader in Los Angeles on Saturday. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m.
“I think we’re confident going into the game against LMU, so hopefully that translates into some wins and hopefully we can dominate in the post,” Ayim said.
01-18-2007