Malibu, CA - The Saint Mary's women's basketball team clinched second place in the West Coast Conference on Thursday night with a 52-38 win over Pepperdine.  With the win, the Gaels improve to 20-8 on the season and 11-2 in conference action and post a 20-win season for the first time since the 2000-01 season.  Senior Jontelle Smith posted 10 points to put her over 1,500 career points (1,501), a milestone only three other SMC women's basketball players have achieved.

"Both teams struggled offensively and no one could find any type of rhythm.  We made a little bit of a run to start the second half, which kept us in a very good spot the rest of the night. I think we definitely executed our defensive game plan tonight, but we need to be able to put our offense and defense together in the same game.   The team needs to be very proud of themselves for getting to 20 wins in a season, especially after all the hard work they put in during the summer and fall," said head coach Paul Thomas.

Both teams struggled from the floor, evident by the 20-19 score at the half.  Forward Louella Tomlinson was a big reason why the Waves weren't putting points on the board as the junior posted 6-of-7 blocks in the first half. Tomlinson's seven blocks puts her tied with Michigan State's Allyssa DeHaan for the NCAA D-I career blocks record as DeHaan recorded six earlier in the evening.      

Pepperdine (17-10, 8-5 WCC) jumped out to a seven-point lead (12-5) after the first seven minutes of the game before Saint Mary's countered with an 11-0 run to take a 16-12 lead with 7:54 remaining in the first half.  Back-to-back 3-point baskets by Pepperdine's Jazmine Jackson and Shay Cooney-Williams put the Waves up two with 6:02 on the clock, but key made free throws and a layup by Ashlee Smith, put the Gaels up by one (20-19) at halftime.

Saint Mary's shot 22.7 percent from the floor and committed 17 of its 25 turnovers in the first half.  Luckily, the Waves posted a 12.8 shooting percentage and only scored eight points off the SMC turnovers.

The Gaels jumped out to an early seven-point lead (26-19) in the first four minutes of the second half, which they soon extended to a ten-point lead (33-23) with 13:49 to play.  Like the first half, the SMC defense held the Waves to 19 points in the second half.  The largest Saint Mary's lead of the night was after Alex Carbonel drained two free throws to put the Gaels up 39-25 with nine minutes left in the game. 

The Waves got within seven (43-36) with 3:02 to play, before Jontelle Smith drained a 3-point basket for the final SMC field goal of the night.  The Gaels were a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute of the game, including a pair by Jo. Smith to put her over the 1,500-career point mark, to cap the 52-38 victory over Pepperdine.

A. Smith finished with a team-high 14 points, while Tomlinson recorded her 19^th double-double of the season.  Tomlinson was three blocks shy of her fourth triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and seven blocks.

The Gaels will play their final game of the regular season at Loyola Marymount on Saturday, February 27 at 2:00 p.m.  Live stats and video will be available through the LMU athletics website at www.lmulions.com.