MALIBU, Calif. – The #13/13 Gonzaga women's basketball team used a dominating third quarter to collect a 64-50 victory at Pepperdine Saturday afternoon inside the Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif. The Zags held Pepperdine to 27.8 percent shooting and outscored the waves 26-18 in the paint.
 
Gonzaga (27-2, 16-1 WCC) finished with three in double-figures led by Jill Townsend with 13 points, all of which she netted in the second half. Melody Kempton added 12 points and nine rebounds while Jessie Loera chipped in 10 points with three assists. Jenn Wirth hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds and added seven points.
 
The Bulldogs edged Pepperdine (14-12, 8-8 WCC) on the glass, 50-41, but gave up 22 offensive rebounds to the Waves; however, Pepperdine converted just 11 second-chance points. Gonzaga's bench also outscored the Waves 27-10.
 
"Today was a great road win," head coach Lisa Fortier said. "We had stretches in the game where we were really good offensively and where we were really good defensively. During the third quarter, we put them both together, and that was the difference in the game."
 
The Zags opened the contest with a 50.0 percent shooting effort while limiting Pepperdine to 26.3 percent shooting, but seven first-quarter turnovers coupled with eight Pepperdine offensive rebounds prevented the Zags from taking a lead. After the first 10 minutes, the two squads were deadlocked at 12 points each.
 
A trey from Louise Forsyth less than a minute into the second period put the Zags up by three (15-12), and a jumper from Loera 90 second later extended the lead to five. The Bulldogs held a five-point advantage for most of the second quarter, but a late run by Pepperdine closed the gap, tying the game 23-all with two minutes remaining in the half. The Zags finished on a 3-0 run to take a 26-23 lead heading into the break.
 
Back-to-back Zag buckets to open the third period put GU by seven, and just over four minutes into the period Gonzaga had extended its lead to 12 (37-25). Townsend hit all five of her field goals during the third stanza for 12 points, helping Gonzaga to a 23-9 third quarter scoring advantage. By the start of the fourth, GU held a 13-point lead, 49-36.
 
The Waves cut it to single digits once in the final period, but the Zags finished the quarter on a 8-3 run to claim the 64-50 victory.
 
Pepperdine was led by Monique Andriuolo and Hannah Friend, each with 10 points, while Barbara Sitanggan finished with a game-high six assists.
 
The Bulldogs continue play on the road next week with their final regular-season game Saturday, Feb. 29 at Portland. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. Check GoZags.com for up-to-date game-time information.