Pepperdine jumped out to a 32-4 lead with 9:05 left in the first half. The Pilots struggled for a comeback, but the Waves opened a 52-19 lead heading into the break. Portland managed just 8-of-22 from the field, 0-of-5 from three-point range and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe in the first half. Pepperdine shot 62 percent from the field, 63 percent from beyond the arc and 100 percent from the free-throw line before the break. The Pilots scored just four points in the paint compared to Pepperdine’s 24 points. The Waves racked up 27 points off Portland turnovers and 20 points from its bench. Pepperdine held the advantage on the boards, 21-7 in the first half.

After the break, the Pilots made some adjustments and held the Waves to just 36 points, while scoring 35 points themselves. The first-half run by Pepperdine was too big a margin for Portland, as they went down, 88-54.

Michaela Dalgleish led all players with 15 points and four rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the free-throw line. Khalila O’Rielly-Williams tallied nine points and five boards, while Jamie Medley came off the bench and chipped in nine points. For the game, the Pilots shot 40 percent (21-53) from the field, 27 percent (3-11) from three-point range and 69 percent (9-13) from the free-throw line.

Pepperdine saw five players score in double-figures on the night. Shanell Law totaled 14 points and eight rebounds, and teammates Nicole Funn and Damaris Hinojosa each tallied 12 points. Kellie Spencer and Kelsey Ball chipped in 10 points each for the Waves. As a team, Pepperdine shot 60 percent (38-63) from the field, 47 percent (7-15) from beyond the arc and 71 percent (5-7) from the free-throw line.

LMU 58, Gonzaga 42
The Loyola Marymount University women's basketball team stays perfect in the first weekend of West Coast Conference action with a 58-42 win over Gonzaga University on Saturday night in Gersten Pavilion. The win keeps LMU's home unbeaten streak in tact at 8-0 on the season. Senior Claudine Auld led all scorers with 18 points. Junior Adrianne Slaughter collected her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lions (10-5/2-0 WCC) took a nine point (30-21) lead into the half despite being outscored 8-2 by Gonzaga (9-8/0-2 WCC) in the last five minutes of the half. LMU dominated the inside game outscoring the Bulldogs 14-8 in the paint. Auld led all scorers at the break with eight points. Slaughter collected three of her total four blocks in the first period.

Gonzaga cut LMU's lead to seven twice early in the second half. Triana Allen opened the Bulldogs second period scoring with a lay-up at 19:11 off an assist from Ashley Burke. Seven points would be as close as GU could come though as LMU pulled away quickly. The Lions enjoyed their largest lead of the game, 22 points (54-32) with 4:21 remaining on the game clock. The second half ended with a 10-4 run by the Bulldogs but it was not enough as LMU cruised to the 16-point win.

It was another team effort for LMU as 10 of the 13 players who suited up scored. Junior Raelen Self poured in eight points and six assists while junior Michele Brown ended her night with seven points. Sophomore Jennifer Henry and freshman Bianca Ziemann each contributed three points. Ziemann also added in five assists. Rachael Ziemann, Jackie Woods, Jevay Grooms and Shannon Wosman each finished with two points to round out the Lions' scoring.

Burke led the Bulldogs scoring efforts with 13 points and picked up a double-double collecting 11 rebounds. Ashley Anderson followed with eight points.

San Francisco 58, Saint Mary's 56
The Saint Mary’s women’s basketball team (7-7/0-1 WCC) dropped its West Coast Conference opener to the San Francisco Lady Dons (6-9/1-0 WCC), 58-56, in front of 1,633 fans at McKeon Pavilion.

“I thought it was a good job our team responded well and never quit,” commented head coach Michelle Jacoby. “We still need to do better on the boards and we had four more turnovers than I would have liked.”

In the first half the Lady Dons took a 9-2 advantage early on behind the efforts of Joy Hollingsworth. The Gaels then went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at nine at the 14:54 minute mark. Both teams then exchanged baskets throughout the rest of the first half. There was a total of seven ties and six lead changes in the first. Unfortunately, the Gaels were invisible on the boards as USF held a 12-0 advantage in offensive rebounds.

In the first half the Gaels shot 59.1 percent from the field (13-22), 66.7 percent from beyond the arc (2-3) and 71.4 percent from the free throw line (5-7).

With 15 minutes remaining in the first half, Julie Morris (Moraga, CA), who recovered from an ankle-injury suffered against Fresno State, hit a three-pointer to give the Gaels a four-point lead. With the Gaels leading by three at the 7:08 minute mark, the Lady Dons went on a 12-0 run to take a nine-point lead with 2:30 remaining. The Gaels then forced two turnovers, while SMC shot 4-for-6 from the field, to tie the score at 56 points each. But with 38 second left on the clock, USF’s Carey Sauer layed in two of her 17 total points to give USF the victory.

“All the team’s in our conference are very good this year,” noted Morris. “Were not just gonna show up and win.”

Morris finished the game with a team-high 13 points. She also had two blocks, two steals and one assist. Triola Jackson (San Diego, CA) finished with 12 points on the night with a team-high nine rebounds. USF’s Hollingsworth had a career-high 20 points to go along with her eight rebounds.

Santa Clara 72, San Diego 63
Santa Clara University’s women’s basketball team opened the West Coast Conference season with a 72-63 victory over San Diego this evening at the Leavey Center. Reserve guard Megan Nelson scored a career-high 15 points as the Broncos won their fifth straight contest to improve to 10-4 overall, 1-0 in league play. The Toreros fall to 6-8, 0-1.

Santa Clara’s 34-point victory was just three points shy of the Broncos’ biggest win against the Toreros in the teams’ all-time series history. Tonight’s win also marked the 13th straight for Santa Clara over USD in regular season league action at Leavey, as San Diego has not won on the Broncos’ home court during the regular season since 1989. Additionally, Santa Clara has now won 34 of its last 36 home WCC contests in the last five-plus seasons.

Nelson led four Broncos in double-digit scoring, as senior Kendra Rhea added 12 points and tied a career high with 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Senior Julie Butler returned to the starting lineup and added 14 points, going 6-7 from the field in the first half. Sophomore guard Kayla Huss finished with 10 points.

San Diego was led by Marta Menuez and San Jose native Kerri Nakamoto, who each posted eight points. Menuez added nine rebounds to lead the Toreros defensively. The Broncos held USD’s leading scorer Erin Malich to seven points under her 14 ppg average.

The Bronco defense gave the fans something to cheer about early, taking two charges in the first 2:30 of the contest. Although San Diego scored the first basket of the night, it was Huss with a jumper to give the Broncos a 10-3 lead at the 14:12 mark.

USD’s Tiara Harris hit a three-pointer to return the deficit to seven, but Bronco senior Tammy Annas responded with a three to make it a 20-10 lead. On the team’s next possession, she scored on a baseline jumper with her toe on the arc to force San Diego head coach Kathy Marpe to take a time out.

The Broncos closed the half with a 15-4 run in the last five minutes. Rhea stole the ball under the Toreros’ basket, and in transition, handed it to Butler for the lay-in. On the next possession, the two seniors traded roles, as Butler earned the assist on Rhea’s lay-up to make the score 30-15.

Nelson tied her career-high with nine points in the first half, while sophomore Quinn Thomas registered six first-half assists. The team shot 55.2 percent from the field while holding San Diego to a 28.6 percent mark at intermssion.

In the second period, a Thomas jumper made it a 30-point lead and the Broncos would extend that to as much as 35 before back-to-back three-pointers by Nakamoto would reduce the lead to 24 with 7:55 remaining.