WBB | Gaels Take Fifth Conference Matchup, Beat Waves 79-68

Thursday, January 24

Moraga, Calif.

6:30 p.m.

Saint Mary's College of California

Pepperdine

WBB | Gaels Take Fifth Conference Matchup, Beat Waves 79-68

1/24/2019 8:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Saint Mary's won their fifth conference game on Thursday night after completing the 79-68 victory over Pepperdine.

MORAGA, Calif. – The Gaels recorded their fifth conference win on Thursday night after outshooting and defeating the Pepperdine Waves 79-68.

HOW IT HAPPENED

QUARTER 1 | The defenses came up big for both teams in the opening minutes of Thursday's match. After four minutes of play, the score was 3-0 in favor of the Waves before Taycee Wedin got the scoring started for the Gaels as she nailed a three from the outside corner. Saint Mary's then went on a 7-0 run propelled by four points from Sam Simons, who ended the quarter with six points, and tied the game 10-10. The two teams traded buckets for the remainder of the quarter with the Gaels shooting 53 percent compared to the Waves 38, but the period ended 19-17 with Pepperdine on top.

QUARTER 2 | Wedin started the second quarter with another three to improve the score to 20-19 as the Gaels regained the lead. With 4:46 left, SMC was on a 10-2 run including a jumper from Carly Turner who led the team at that moment with seven points and ended the night with nine. Pepperdine then took control of the 30-27 lead after two Gael turnovers, and the two teams went point-for-point for the next two minutes. Barbara Sitanggan led the Waves in the first half with a total of 12 points while shooting 4-for-4. Jasmine Forcadilla nailed her first three and the Gaels fourth of the night to improve the score to 33-34, but a final-seconds-foul gave the Waves two free throws and the half ended 36-33 in favor of Pepperdine.

QUARTER 3 | The Waves carried the momentum of the first half into the second and increased their lead over the Gaels to five points after a number of shots from top scorer Yasmine Robinson-Bacote. Emily Codding hit her first three of the night from the top of the arc and brought SMC within three points of Pepperdine, but the Waves continued to remain ahead of the Gaels for a majority of the period. With just under three minutes left in the third, Saint Mary's took back the lead from Pepperdine after another three from Codding to increase the Gaels three-point shooting percentage to 80 percent for the period. SMC went into the final quarter with a 59-56 advantage over the Waves.

QUARTER 4 | Saint Mary's continued to frustrate Pepperdine as the final period began with the Waves picking up a number of fouls in just the first two minutes. Forcadilla and Megan McKay came up big for the Gaels in the last quarter as Forcadilla shot 5-for-6 and McKay shot 3-for-4 from the free throw line. SMC led the Waves 65-60 with six minutes left in the game and maintained a steady lead for the rest of the quarter. With four minutes left, the Gaels improved their lead to 11 points over the Waves and held the lead until the end. Saint Mary's went on to win the game 79-68 over Pepperdine.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

55: Gaels' shooting percentage compared to Pepperdine's 36 percent.
4: Number of SMC players who scored in the double digits.
11/10: Number of points and rebounds for Sydney Raggio in her double-double.
36: Points off the bench for Saint Mary's.
63: Shooting percentage for Sam Simons.

QUOTABLE

"Tonight we won a game that was a grind," said Paul Thomas. "It took everyone on our team making positive contributions to secure the win."

COMING UP

Saint Mary's will remain at home for their next three matchups, the first of which will be against LMU on Saturday at 2 p.m. Links to the live stats and the live stream can be found by clicking here, or visiting the Gaels' schedule page. Tickets to the game can be purchased by clicking here.