SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Despite leading most of the game, Santa Clara women's basketball fell to Pepperdine 76-74 Saturday afternoon at home behind a fourth quarter comeback and 31 points from Yasmine Robinson-Bacote, the conference's leading scorer
With time winding down, Barbara Sitanggan drove to the basket and converted a tough layup to give the Waves (15-8, 9-4 WCC) a 76-74 lead.
An inbounds pass with 0.9 seconds on the clock went to Lauren Yearwood on the Broncos (10-13, 3-9 WCC) final possession but her shot was off the mark.
Deezha Battle tied the game for Pepperdine twice in the final minute, once with a 3-pointer at the 42 second mark and again with 21 seconds on the clock.
She finished the day with 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting and was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. Robinson-Bacote had a double-double behind her game-high 31 points and 12 rebounds while Sitanggan added 12 assists and seven rebounds.
Things were looking good for the Broncos at the end of the third quarter when Joeseta Fatuesi closed out the quarter with a layup and 3-pointer to put them up 59-48.
The redshirt junior finished with a career-high 16 points including going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc while dishing out four assists.
After a slow start to the game, Santa Clara got the offense going, having two separate 7-0 runs in the first quarter. The first was led by one of Fatuesi's triples and two layups from Tia Hay, while Emily Wolph knocked down back-to-back triples to spur the second that made it 16-8 at the end of the period.
For the second straight game, Ashlyn Herlihy had a double-double behind a team-high 17 points and 12 rebounds. She added five assists and four steals as well. Hay scored 13 with five assists and Wolph hit three 3-pointers while scoring 11. Naomi Jimenez added a career-high 11 rebounds.
Pepperdine was able to chip into the deficit in the second quarter, getting as close as two points and ending the half trailing 33-29.
HIGHLIGHTS | Joeseta Fatuesi took over the third quarter of today's bout against Pepperdine! #StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/rDk9i00tEH
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) February 10, 2019
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 40-39 all-time against Pepperdine.
- With three blocks, Lauren Yearwood now has 59 on the year, good for third on the Santa Clara single-season list. She is one block away from joining the career top-10.
- The Broncos used the same starting lineup (Hay, Wolph, Jimenez, Herlihy, Yearwood) for the fifth consecutive game.
- Santa Clara had 19 assists on 26 made baskets.
UP NEXT
Santa Clara travels to rival Saint Mary's Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. tip.
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