SANTA CLARA, Calif. – An ice cold third quarter was too much for Santa Clara women's basketball to overcome in a 79-61 defeat to Pepperdine Saturday at home.
The Waves (13-10, 7-6 WCC) scored the first 10 points of the second half to stretch what was a four-point halftime lead out to 14 and never looked back. Hannah Friend scored the last seven points of the run, with her triple at 4:41 making it 55-41.
Friend finished with a game high 24 points and knocked down four 3-pointers while adding eight rebounds. Barbara Sitanggan almost had a double-double with 16 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting with nine assists. Monique Andriuolo added 13 points with Jayla Rufus-Milner scoring 11.
During the decisive third quarter, the Broncos (9-14, 3-9 WCC) missed their first 10 field goal attempts of the half before finally getting on the board with 3:11 left in the period on a corner 3-pointer by Lindsey VanAllen. For the quarter, they shot just 1 of 17 from the floor and saw their deficit balloon to 16 by the end of the period.
Despite the tough quarter, Santa Clara still shot 40.0-percent from the floor on the game, but Pepperdine finished at 47.5-percent and hit 50.0-percent from 3-point land.
The lone offensive bright spot for Santa Clara was Emily Wolph who scored a season high 24 while also tying a career high with six made 3-pointers. Overall, she was 8 of 16 from the field and 6 of 9 from downtown.
VanAllen added 10 points with five rebounds and Tia Hay scored nine with six assists, tying a season high set two other times this year.
Santa Clara also struggled with turnovers, committing 17 while forcing just nine and being outscored 18-7 off the miscues.
Things were better in the first half for the Broncos who were 16-for-28 from the field and 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. Wolph tied her previous season high of four 3-pointers during the first 20 minutes of action.
HIGHLIGHTS
HIGHLIGHTS | Check out these plays from today's matchup against Pepperdine!#StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/vRa6puXTl1
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) February 9, 2020
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 40-41 all-time against Pepperdine.
- Emily Wolph was in the starting lineup for the sixth straight game and Naomi Jimenez made her fourth consecutive start.
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The Broncos head back on the road and take on Portland Thursday at 7 p.m.
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