Waves basketball falls in NCAA Tournament first round
The Pepperdine University women’s basketball team’s magical postseason run came to an end Saturday as the squad fell to Oklahoma University, 78-66, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The 15th-seeded Waves (14-17), who qualified for the tournament after an upset victory in the West Coast Conference Championship, kept it close for the first 10 minutes of the game at the Pepsi Center in Denver. But the Sooners (30-4) pulled away after that, extending the lead at one point to 29.
Oklahoma, seeded second in the San Antonio Region, was led by freshman Courtney Paris, who scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in just 21 minutes of play. Paris’ effort came despite vomiting before the game after drinking too much water.
Sophomore guard Daphanie Kennedy led the Waves in scoring with a career-high 31 points, including 23 in the second half. The team as a whole shot 35 percent. But Pepperdine coach Julie Rousseau had positive comments about her team after the game.
“I don’t know what the largest deficit was, but I think that everyone got to really enjoy what I’ve had an opportunity to enjoy all year, and that’s just how tough our women really are, how strong they are, strong in character,” Rousseau told the Associated Press. “They showed a lot of fight and I’m very proud of them.”
Westphal out as Pepperdine men’s basketball coach
With the Pepperdine University men’s basketball team fininishing this season 7-20, its worst record since 1996-97, the school announced last week that coach Paul Westphal would not be returning. Westphal resigned after being told the university would be hiring somebody else next season.
Westphal, who played and coached in the NBA, came to Pepperdine in 2001. In his first season, the Waves shared the regular season conference title with Gonzaga and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after falling to the Bulldogs in the West Coast Conference Championship final.
But Pepperdine did not return to the postseason during Westphal’s tenure, which included two losing seasons and two others barely above .500.
Pepperdine Athletic Director Dr. John Watson said a search would begin as soon as possible for the school’s new head basketball coach.
Pepperdine baseball wins weekend series
The Pepperdine University baseball team defeated Dartmouth, 9-2, on Sunday to clinch a three-game series win in Malibu.
Sunday’s victory raised the No. 21 Waves to 14-11 on the season.
Dartmouth (1-5) took the first game of the series on Friday, 3-2, in a tight contest that went into the 11th inning. The Pepperdine loss overshadowed senior Paul Coleman’s performance in which he struck out a season-high 10 batters in a career-high 10 innings of play.
The Waves won the second game, 6-2, on Saturday. Pepperdine had a powerful third inning, scoring four runs, including a two-run home run by junior catcher Chad Tracy.
The Waves played on Tuesday against Cal State Fullerton in a game that began after The Malibu Times went to print.
Top-ranked team downs Waves volleyball
Three days after defeating UCLA in a rematch of last year’s national championship match, the Pepperdine University men’s volleyball team on Sunday fell to UC Irvine, 3-1 ( 25-30, 34-32, 30-28, 30-27) in front of the home crowd.
UCI, ranked first in the nation, increased its record to 21-3, while the No. 4 Waves dropped to 13-5,
UCI junior Matt Webber led all players with 24 kills and four total blocks. Pepperdine junior outside hitter John Parfitt led the Waves in kills with 19. He also had 12 digs and four block assists.
The Waves will play again on Friday against USC at the Lyon Center in Los Angeles. The game will begin at 7 p.m.
-Carley Dryden and Jonathan Friedman