Waves hang on by thread
Amanda Patton, who missed a free throw with 3.3 seconds left, missed a desperation 3-pointer from the left corner as time expired Saturday afternoon, allowing fourth-seeded Pepperdine to escape with a 59-58 win over third-seeded Loyola Marymount in the first semifinal of the West Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament at McCarthey Athletic Center.
“It’s pretty tough watching an 83 percent free-throw shooter up there, but we used every trick we had to get her to miss,” said Pepperdine coach Julie Rousseau, whose team faces top-seeded Santa Clara in the title game.
Patton was put in that position when she was fouled by Teiosha George while attempting a tying 3-pointer. After she made the first two free throws, Pepperdine (13-16) called a timeout.
“That’s when you just try to pull all your tricks out of the bag,” Rousseau, a former WNBA coach, said. “We waited to see her make the first two. … I told Daphanie (Kennedy) in the timeout, ‘Before she gets the ball, just cross the lane, switch sides.’ Hopefully, it breaks up her rhythm. You just hope that she misses, and she did.”
Patton’s last free-throw attempt rolled off the left side, but while the Waves blocked out, no one went for the ball. In the ensuing scramble, it was knocked out of bounds by a Pepperdine player with 2.2 seconds to play.
Rachael Zieman inbounded the ball to Patton in the left corner, but her shot was long.
Pepperdine 59, LMU 58
Pepperdine (13-16) – Clarendon 4-7 2-5 10, Ball 0-2 1-2 1, Kennedy 5-15 6-6 18, Ross 2-5 0-0 4, Johnson 1-6 0-1 2, Boyd 4-8 0-0 10, Isabell 1-6 1-2 3, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, George 5-8 1-1 11. Totals 22-57 11-17 59.
Loyola Marymount (17-12) – Dunlap 6-12 1-6 13, Grooms 4-6 1-3 9, B.Ziemann 2-5 6-6 10, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Patton 1-10 5-6 7, Moore 0-1 1-2 1, Decoud 2-6 0-2 4, R.Ziemann 2-6 0-0 4, Evans 0-1 0-1 0, Ogoke 5-11 0-0 10. Totals 22-59 14-26 58.
Halftime–Pepperdine 28, Loyola Marymount 24. 3-point goals–Pepperdine 4-13 (Boyd 2-2, Kennedy 2-6, Johnson 0-1, Isabell 0-2, Ross 0-2), Loyola Marymount 0-10 (R.Ziemann 0-1, Moore 0-1, Smith 0-1, Patton 0-7). Fouled out–Ball. Rebounds–Pepperdine 47 (Clarendon 9), Loyola Marymount 43 (Dunlap, Ogoke 9). Assists–Pepperdine 7 (Kennedy 3), Loyola Marymount 9 (Decoud, Smith 4). A–NA.