Feb. 1, 2001

Box Score

The Pepperdine University Waves held Gonzaga University to 29.7 percent shooting (19-of-64) en route to a 61-56 West Coast Confernce women's basketball victory Thursday in The Kennel.

With the win, the Waves improved to 15-7 overall and 5-2 in the WCC as the Bulldogs (5-15, 0-7) dropped their seventh straight conference game.

The teams came into Thursday's game on the opposite ends of team scoring as Pepperdine came in as the top-ranked scoring team in the conference with an average of 75.1 points/game and the Bulldogs came in ranked last at 47.2 points/contest.

The game started out a defensive struggle as neither team built more than a four-point lead during the first 17 minutes. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Jessica Malone and Celeste Quitquit brought the Zags to within one point, 7-6, at the 15:31 mark in the first half. The Bulldogs found themselves down 17-14 with 6:14 to play when Erin Bergman drilled one of her three 3's to tie the game at 17. Malone's layin at the 5:12 mark put the Zags up by three, 22-19, but the Waves would hold GU scoreless during the last 5:11 of the half and go on an 11-0 run. Pepperdine headed into halftime with all the momentum and a 30-22 advantage.

Coming out of the half with an eight-point lead, Pepperdine couldn't capitalize on open shots and the Bulldogs took advantage of the Waves miscues. The Zags went on a 12-4 scoring spree to tie the game, 34-34, with 15:58 remaining.

Soon after the GU run, The Kennel experienced a power outage that effected all of the scoreboard equipment. The 25-minute delay seemed to take some of the spark out of the Zags. The Waves exhibited why they are the WCC's best scoring team and bolted through the Bulldogs defense to build a 50-39 lead with 7:02 left. The Bulldogs turned on the defensive pressure and fought their way back to within seven points, 57-50, with 1:41 remaining. A steal and a layin from Pepperdine's Shandrika Lee stretched the Waves lead to 59-50. Gonzaga responded when Erin Bergman connected on her third 3-pointer of the game to pull the Zags to within six points, 59-53, with one minute left. A Pepperdine miss led to another 3-point-bomb from Triana Allen and the Zags trailed, 59-56, with 23 ticks left.

Gonzaga was forced to foul and Lee went to the charity stripe and knocked down both free-throw attempts to seal the game 61-56.

Malone's shooting woes continued as she only hit 4-of-16 shots from the field. She scored a team-high 12 points, six below her average of 18.0 ppg, it was good for the team-high total. She also broke Ivy Safranski's 3-point shooting record of 180 career 3-pointers made as she finished 2-8 from behind the 3-point stripe. The first 3-pointer tied the record and the second broke the 6-year-old record set in 1995.

Bernice Stime continued her domination inside as she grabbed the game-high 13 rebounds and chipped in 11 points. Stime entered the game as the WCC's leader in rebounds with 9.8 rebounds/game. Pepperdine's Damaris Hinojosa (15) and Nadja Morgan (14) combined for 29 of the team's 61 points. The Waves used 10 players as they substituted frequently to tire a depleted Bulldog squad of just seven players in uniform. Amanda Fahsholtz and Chelsea Clark did not play due to minor injuries.

Gonzaga will now prepare for Loyola Marymount University on Saturday at 7 p.m. in The Kennel. LMU entered this week's WCC play with an RPI ranking of #34, according to the Collegiate Basketball News rankings.