MALIBU, Calif. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball closed out the regular season with a 69-48 win over Pepperdine by dominating the second half, guaranteeing themselves the sixth seed in next week's WCC Tournament.
 
The Gaels actually trailed by four at halftime, but won the second half 44-19. They shot 55.6% in the second half to the Wave's 24%, and forced Pepperdine into committing 10 more turnovers than themselves at 13-3.
 
SMC shot 45.5% in the first half, but Pepperdine had a slight edge at 48%, were a plus-6 in rebounds and had three more points off turnovers than the Gaels.
 
But the Gaels began their run just a little over a minute into the third quarter, keeping the Waves scoreless for over three minutes. They would take the lead at 33-32 with 6:24 to go in the third when Zeryhia Aokuso stole the ball and raced the other way for a layup, leading to Pepperdine calling a time out.
 
Saint Mary's would never trail again, pushing their lead up to seven on a put back by Hannah Rapp, and they led by eight after three quarters. The Gaels ability to draw fouls and hit free throws played a big role in taking the lead, shooting 9 of 11 at the line in the third.
 
A Tayla Dalton layup gave the Gaels their first double-digit lead of the game, going up 48-38 on their opening possession of the fourth. The Waves would never get closer than within seven, and SMC would have a double-digit lead the rest of the way after an Aokuso jumper just inside the free-throw line made it 55-44 with 5:31 to go.
 
After the ensuing media time out, Saint Mary's really poured it on. Ruby Vlahov hit a three from the corner, followed by layups from Emily Foy and a Vlahov and the Gaels were up 62-44. They would go up by more than 20 points on another Aokuso jumper in the lane that made it 67-46 with exactly two minutes remaining.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
Four Gaels finished in double figures scoring, as Dalton and Aokuso each had 15 points, Vlahov had 13, and Ali Bamberger finished with 11. Rapp led the club with six rebounds, and Dalton, Aokuso, and Bamberger each had four assists.
 
SMC forced 22 turnovers while committing just 10 of their own.
 
UP NEXT:
Saint Mary's is currently slated to take on LMU at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, March 8 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
 
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