MALIBU, Calif. – For the second day in a row, Santa Clara women's basketball picked up a win at Pepperdine. The Broncos took down the Waves 66-57 after a 68-64 win Saturday at Firestone Fieldhouse.
Santa Clara (10-6, 6-4 WCC) was led by four in double figures, with Lindsey VanAllen's 18 the most amongst all players. The junior set a season high with four 3-pointers and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
Ashlyn Herlihy and Merle Wiehl both added 13 points with Herlihy just missing a double-double with nine rebounds and Wiehl connecting on three 3-pointers. Lexie Pritchard scored 11 to go with four assists.
With just a two-point lead heading into the final quarter, the Broncos were still clinging to a one-point advantage when Wiehl stepped up with five points in a row. Her triple at 4:24 made the score 56-50.
After the bucket, both teams went cold for the next three minutes, with the only point being a free throw from Jayda Ruffus-Milner. The Waves went without a field goal for 5:48 during the fourth quarter.
During the final 33 seconds, Santa Clara hit all eight of its free throw attempts and finished the day a perfect 13-for-13 from the charity stripe
After VanAllen's fourth 3-pointer of the game gave the Broncos an eight-point lead midway through the third, Pepperdine came back with a 10-2 run. Cheyenne Givens scored five, including connecting from deep, and Ruffus-Milner's layup with 41 seconds remaining in the period made it 44-all.
Ruffus-Milner scored 10 and grabbed five boards with Monique Andriuolo's 12 leading the Waves (3-9, 0-8). Givens and Tara Dusharm added nine apiece. Pepperdine's leading scorer Malia Bambrick was shut down by the Santa Clara defense, scoring just three points on 1-of-11 shooting.
Six in a row on triples from Herlihy and Bryce Nixon in the first quarter gave the Broncos a lead until Pepperdine scored eight points in a row midway through the second quarter. Back-to-back triples were followed by a layup from Andriuolo at 6:26 to give the Waves a 23-21 lead.
Santa Clara came right back with the next seven points, the final four coming from Lara Edmanson, to reclaim the lead at 28-23. After a jumper by Dusharm ended the run, the Bronco defense wouldn't allow a field goal over the final 4:16 of the half and took a 33-26 lead into the break.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 42-41 all-time against Pepperdine.
- The Broncos had a 24-11 edge in points off turnovers.
- Ashlyn Herlihy moved into 21st all-time at Santa Clara with 1,065 career points, moving past former teammate Emily Wolph.
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The Broncos return to Leavey Center and host Pacific Thursday.
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