The 10th-seeded Pepperdine Waves live to fight another day as the ladies upset Santa Clara 80-74 in the first round of the West Coast Conference Championships on Thursday afternoon.
Ea Shoushtari and Grace Leah Baughn each had career nights scoring 30 (Shoushtari) and 19 (Baughn) to propel the Waves to a playoff victory.
“This was a great team effort,” first-year Pepperdine Coach Ryan Weisenberg said. “We responded mentally. The girls responded to a couple of runs, which we met and matched and overcame.”
All game both teams went back and forth trading leads 15 times along with six ties throughout the game. A huge reason for Pepperdine’s success was rebounding as the Waves out rebounded Santa Clara 50-35 with 20 offensive rebounds.