Final Stats

Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine women's basketball team made a late push, but couldn't come all the way back on Wednesday night, falling to Long Beach State at home, 78-69.

The Waves cut a double-digit lead to eight with less than a minute remaining, but couldn't get the turnover or missed foul shot they needed to make it any closer.

"We just need to be playing better offensive basketball and we have to hit our free throws," said head coach Ryan Weisenberg. "We also looked passive on defense at times and that can't be the case against a team like Long Beach State. We definitely know what we need to work on going forward."

The Waves kept it close through much of the first half, but after Pepperdine pulled to within three on a Kim Jacobs (Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura HS) 3-pointer, Long Beach State used a 17-8 run to close the first half with a 38-26 lead. The teams combined to shoot 26 free throws with the 49ers hitting 11-of-12 foul shots in the half. Neither team shot well from long range, each just hitting one triple in the half.

The 49ers made up most of the early difference with 20 points in the paint and 16 off of turnovers. The Waves had just four points in each category.

Pepperdine hit a pair of quick buckets out of the break, but 38-30 was as close as they would come as LBSU pulled away from there, going up by as much as 17.

The Waves again made it close late when Keitra Wallace (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS) completed a 3-point play to make it an 11-point game and then Bria Richardson (Hawthorne, Calif./Serra HS) hit a pair of foul shots to pull Pepperdine to 72-63 with :53 seconds to play. The teams traded free throws and Pepperdine made it an eight point game again, but didn't come any closer.

"Kelsey Brockway gave us a good game off the bench tonight," said Weisenberg. "We just need more of that. We need to get that spark off the bench, that's what's been missing these last couple games."

Brockway (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes. Wallace led the Waves in scoring with 19 points and Richardson had 17.

The 49ers had six players with at least eight points in the game and got a team-high 13 from both Hallie Meneses and Raven Benton.

After hitting all but one free throw in the first half, Long Beach State went 10-of-15 from the foul line in the second. Pepperdine, however, was unable to capitalize on a season-high 38 free throw attempts, going 26-for-38 from the line.

The Waves fall to 3-4 with the loss and Long Beach State moves to 6-1. Pepperdine will be back in action Saturday when they head to Cal State Northridge for a 4 p.m. game. Audio of that game will be broadcast live on WaveCasts.