MALIBU, Calif. -- In a back-and-forth afternoon battle, the USF Dons women's basketball team (15-13, 9-7) used a strong fourth quarter effort to defeat the hometown Pepperdine Waves (8-14, 4-9) 74-66 in Malibu.

Ioanna Krimili continued her stellar week by pouring in 28 points to lead both teams, while Jasmine Gayles had a nice bounce back performance off the bench scoring 17 points in the victory. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• The first quarter of action was a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to get much separation as the Dons' led 19-17 after one thanks to Jasmine Gayles making a buzzer beater to end the quarter. 
• Pepperdine came out aggressive early in the second quarter as they took for a brief period of times before USF took back control and made another buzzer beater this time from Krimili at half court to lead 39-35 at the break.
• The hometown Waves came out ready in the second half as they started to knock down their outside shots as they entered the final quarter leading 54-53.
• USF made numerous key plays in the final minutes of the final quarter and knocked down some late free throws to leave Firestone Fieldhouse with the 74-66 victory on the road. 

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Krimili was a force on the offensive side of the ball with 28 points on 9-for-19 shooting to go along with six rebounds and five assists while also going a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line.
• It was a great afternoon scoring the ball for Gayles as she returned to her aggressive ways scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting as well as two assists and a steal for the Dons.
• Claudia Langarita was a reliable bucket throughout Saturday's win scoring 16 points on 8-for-12 from the field while also grabbing five rebounds and collecting an assist.
• Playing her best when it mattered most, Amalie Langer secured a huge and-one that put the Dons ahead for good while she also played tremendous defense throughout the game. Langer finished with eight points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist against Pepperdine.

CATCHING UP WITH COACH GOODENBOUR:
"I'm really proud of our team's grit and determination to grind out a tough win on the road. Our veteran players made big plays down the stretch to secure the victory. Amalie and Jess came up with a couple great defensive plays and Io hit a timely three pointer and made her free throws. Io has really stepped up and carried us offensively these last couple games and it's great to see her playing so well. We have two more tough games coming up ans we want to focus on playing our best at the end of the season." 

UP NEXT:
The Dons will be back in Southern California next week as they will face off with the Loyola Marymount Lions (9-16, 4-11) Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles. USF took care of the Lions in their first meeting 70-49 on the Hilltop in what was the third win in what ended up being a four-game conference winning streak for USF. 

TICKETS AND MERCHANDISE:
Single-game tickets for West Coast Conference basketball games are currently on sale at www.usfdons.com/tickets. 

Want to dress like the Dons? Rep USF today by visiting the all-new USF Dons online store at www.usfdons.com/shop.

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF women's basketball program, follow the Dons @USFDonsWBB on Twitter, @USFDonsWBB on Instagram and @USFDonsWBB on Facebook.