Maxwell has 18, Ejim 17, No. 16 Gonzaga women win 22nd straight, 75-41 over Pepperdine
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Brynna Maxwell scored 18 points, Yvonne Ejim added 17 with 11 rebounds and No. 16 Gonzaga ran its winning streak to 22 with a 75-41 win over Pepperdine on Saturday.
Kayleigh Truong added 15 points and Kaylynne Truong added 13 with six assists for the Bulldogs (28-2, 15-0 West Coast Conference). They have now beaten Pepperdine 16-straight games.
Jane Nwaba scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her third-straight double-double for the Waves (5-12, 1-14), losers of 14 straight.
Kayleigh Truong, Ejim and Maxwell all made two baskets as the Bulldogs raced to a 12-0 lead and they led 16-9 after one quarter.
Megan Harkey made two layups, concerting the second into a three-point play to pull Pepperdine within 18-14 less than a minute into the second but the Bulldogs hit consecutive 3s and had four in the quarter for a 32-21 halftime lead.
Gonzaga finished the first half making 1 of 10 shots and Pepperdine missed its last nine shots. The Bulldogs, second in the nation shooting 40.4% behind the arc, were 0 for 5 in the first quarter but 4 of 7 in the second.
Ejim had 10 at the half, her 34th-straight double-figure game.
After breaking the game open with five 3s in the third quarter, Gonzaga cooled off and finished the game 11 of 29. The Truong twins both had three 3s and Maxwell, who has made a 3 in every game this season, hit four.
The Bulldogs outrebounded Pepperdine 44-27 and only committed five fouls in the game.
Gonzaga goes for an undefeated league season against Portland at home, where they have a 33-game winning streak, on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs went undefeated at 14-0 three times when Kelly Graves was coach, the last coming in 2010-11. Four times in head coach Lisa Fortier’s nine seasons they finished with one loss, including last season.
Pepperdine wraps up its regular season at home on Saturday against Saint Mary’s.
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