Nov. 19, 2004

Final Stats

MALIBU, Calif. - First-year Head Coach Julie Rousseau's inaugural game did not go as planed Friday night as the Pepperdine women's basketball team was defeated 58-38 by the Fresno State Bulldogs in front of 7,042 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. The crowd was the largest home crowd for a Fresno State women's basketball game.

Pepperdine (0-1) opened the scoring in the season opener for both teams but it would be the only lead the Waves held as it trailed by 10, 32-22 at the half.

Kelsey Ball led the Waves with eight points on the night as Pepperdine committed 24 turnovers in the game. Sophomore Teiosha George was the only other Wave to score more than five points in the contest as the team shot just 29.6 percent from the floor and 27.3 from the free throw line.

Fresno State got 17 points from Chantella Perera who was the only player on the night to record a double-digit performance and a team-high seven rebounds from Aritta Lane.

The Waves kept the defensive game close throughout much of the first stanza before Fresno State (1-0) ended the period with a 9-2 run. During the run, Veronica Mack scored five of her seven points for the game.

At the 17:15 mark in the second half FSU's Paige Diggs connected on a three-point try to give the Bulldogs a 12-point, 37-25 advantage. But Pepperdine would answer with a 6-0 run to close the gap to six at 37-31.

That would be as close as the Waves would get as Fresno State rotated 14 players in and out of the game to Pepperdine's nine.

George recorded a team-leading three blocks in the game as the Waves held a 5-2 advantage. On the boards, Ball led the way with eight rebounds followed by George's seven.

Pepperdine will be back in action Sunday afternoon as it takes on #18/19 Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan. Tip off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (PT). All the game's action can be hear via Yahoo Sports by clicking on the Audio/Visual link at www.PepperdineSports.com.