In a low-scoring affair in Malibu, California, WSU held off Pepperdine for a 57-49 victory Thursday to close out the regular season on a high note, albeit in not-so-smooth fashion.
Coming off an emotional senior night win against Saint Mary’s over the weekend, WSU was riding high on positive energy the team looked to translate into a win to close out conference play and the regular season schedule.
In a game where the Cougs scored their lowest total in a month, WSU shot 32.8% from the field and Pepperdine shot 28.8%, the emotions seemed to overwhelm WSU and both teams struggled with the season wrapping up.
“It was maybe a little bit of a trap game for us,” WSU head coach Kamie Ethridge said. “We were so emotional and played pretty well last weekend and as much as we tried to to come in here with an edge and thinking we were all right, we just didn’t shoot the ball well.”
The game was a slugfest, with both teams struggling from the field early. The sheer volume of shots allowed the first quarter to end at a respectable 14-11 advantage for Pepperdine, but the efficiency was not there. WSU shot 21.1% overall in the quarter while Pepperdine shot 31.3%. While the Cougs would make a solid improvement to that percentage over the rest of the game, both teams would continue to struggle to simply make open shots.
The trends continued into the second quarter, but an early five-point lead for the Waves quickly dissipated as the Cougs turned around with a quick 9-2 run early within the quarter’s first two minutes to take the lead. From there, the quarter would move slowly as just nine points were scored over the final six-and-a-half minutes. With a slight offensive edge, the Cougs entered halftime up 27-25.
In the third quarter, Pepperdine almost regained the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter when the Waves tied the game at 31, but WSU finished the rest of the quarter strong. The Cougs outscored the Waves 13-5 over the last six minutes of the quarter, giving themselves a solid margin to work with heading into the final period. The run was punctuated by much-needed threes by guard Charolette Abraham and forward Tara Wallack.
The fourth quarter was full of ups and downs as the Cougs attempted to hold their lead while the Waves tried to mount a comeback. Only one field goal was scored in the first four minutes of the quarter before Wallack got a layup to go to tie the team’s largest lead of the game after guard Eleonora Villa did the same in the quarter’s first minute.
Pepperdine quickly responded with a 7-0 run that closed the Waves’ deficit to three. Cougs forward Dayana Mendes hit a jumper to halt the run but neither team would hit a shot until the final seconds of the game. A slow-churned battle of free throws and missed shots proceeded the rest of the way as the teams traded free throws.
The Waves missed critical shots down the stretch as WSU held a seven-point lead until 36 seconds left in the game. Pepperdine guards Makena Mastora and Ella Brubaker hit important free throws after drawing a pair of costly fouls by the Cougs, but a smart timeout by Ethridge would put the game on ice. Out of the timeout, Wallack drew a foul on the fast break and WSU scored the final five points. Wallack hit her free throws, Mendes hit one of two and added a last-second basket to secure the win.
With the victory, Ethridge said the team missed a lot of open looks and the offensive performance was disappointing, but for the team a win is still a win.
“We have got to walk away happy that we won and no one’s going to really care but it sure gives us the taste in our mouth [which] needs to be we got to be a lot better as we move forward,” Ethridge said.
Mendes led the Cougs with 14 points on a dare where she was consistently challenged and dared to shoot by the Waves. She attempted a career-high 17 shots in just 19 minutes. Mendes had not shot more than 11 times in a game this season.
“[Mendes] going to look back on this and realize that she’s having the experience that Tara had when [Washington] didn’t guard Tara,” Ethridge said. “They challenged some of our players when they were just like ‘we don’t care you can’t shoot’ and that that blows people’s minds a little bit … because [Mendes] really can shoot but she’s doing spot shots while we’re all standing around the perimeter just watching her question herself should she shoot should or should she not shoot.”
Pepperdine’s starters played heavy minutes, yet no Waves player reached double-digit points. The team’s offensive leaders struggled as Mastora went 2-10 from the field in 29 minutes and guard Chloe Sotell shot 4-18 in 30 minutes.
Wallack finished her final regular season game as a Coug with her fifth double-double of this season, this time notching 11 points and 10 rebounds.
With a bye to wrap up the final weekend of the regular season, the Cougs wait until March 9 to play in the WCC tournament quarterfinals. With the extra rest and time, Ethridge said she thinks her team can improve and get in some good practices before the team heads to Las Vegas.
WSU will use the next week to prepare for a number of potential opponents as the Cougs await the results of the matchup with the six-seed, who earns a bye to the third round.
