Pepperdine Isn’t Going Anywhere

Pepperdine tried to convince itself it was ready to make some noise in this year’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament, but Villanova showed the Waves it’s still not yet their time to shout.

The ninth-seeded Wildcats, who play the game slow and slower, lulled the eighth-seeded Waves right out of the West Regional with a 67-46 rout in first-round play Saturday before 11,200.

Villanova (20-10), led by Mimi Riley’s 18 points and Katie Davis’ 16, moves on to play Oklahoma, which routed Hartford, 84-52. Damaris Hinojosa had 16 points for Pepperdine (23-8), which ends its season with its most lopsided loss.

The Wildcats held the Waves to a season-low scoring total for a single game, and outrebounded them, 41-30, including a 15-4 edge on the offensive boards

By controlling the boards, Villanova dictated the tempo, often taking all 30 seconds to get off a shot. Although the Wildcats made only 38.9% of their shots, they rarely had to score under duress.

“The game kind of got into the pace we wanted to get in,” Villanova Coach Harry Perretta said. “We wanted a low-scoring game. We are very successful when we can hold opponents under 60 points.”

Pepperdine, which made 18 of 48 shots (37.5%) never could speed up things; the best the Waves could do was tie the score, at 14-14, early in the first half, but they never led. They became the 11th team Villanova has held under 50 points this season.

“Villanova did a great job running their offense and real good job defensively,” said Pepperdine Coach Mark Trakh. “There are no excuses.”

No matter how much the Waves were warned about Villanova’s deliberate style, Pepperdine still looked hypnotized at times by the Wildcats’ passing attack.

“When you have to keep playing defense for 30 seconds ... we’re just not used to that. And it took us out of our game,” said Wave forward Nadja Morgan, who had 10 points and 11 rebounds in her final college game.

But it was the rebounding effort by Villanova that really surprised Pepperdine, which had a size advantage in the front court.

“On film we saw that if they shot and missed, they just kind of ran back [on defense],” said Wave forward Sarah Richen. “They didn’t do that tonight.”

Down 26-16 at halftime, the Waves tried to pick up the pace but the closest the Waves could get was 31-25. Villanova promptly went on an 11-2 run.