MALIBU, California – Paige Fecske scored a game-high 21 points to help the Pepperdine women's basketball team overcome a slow start and subdue visiting Concordia-Irvine, 76-57, on Saturday afternoon in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
The Waves (3-2) scored 50 of their points in the second half against the Eagles -- an NCAA Division II team who are counting this as an exhibition – and outscored them 50-32 after the break.
 
BIG WAVES

• Senior guard Paige Fecske (Studio City, Calif./Chaminade HS) hit the 20-point mark for the second straight game. She also had five rebounds and three assists.
• Sophomore guard Malia Bambrick (Santa Clarita, Calif./Bishop Alemany HS) scored 10 points.
• Junior forward Monique Andriuolo (Melbourne, Australia) had seven points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
• Redshirt freshman guard Jayla Ruffus-Milner (North Hills, Calif./Harvard-Westlake HS) had nine points and five rebounds.
• Junior guard Mia Satie (Perth, Australia) equaled team highs of nine rebounds and two blocks.

 
KEY STATS

• After shooting 58.8% from the field in the second half, the Waves finished at 40.0% for the game. They held the Eagles to 26.6% shooting overall.
• Pepperdine grabbed 21 offensive rebounds en route to a 57-39 rebounding edge, and 19-11 advantage in second-chance points.
• The Waves owned the paint, outscoring the Eagles 46-18 down low.
• A remarkably clean game saw a total of only nine turnovers.
• Concordia was led by Jasmine Rachal's 20 points.

 
PLAY BY PLAY
 
The Waves made just two of 17 shots in the first quarter and Concordia led 12-9 after 10 minutes. Pepperdine trailed by as many as eight at 17-8 and 19-11, but a 13-4 run gave the Waves their first lead at 24-23 on a Bambrick lay-up with less than two minutes left in the second quarter. Pepperdine led 26-25 at halftime.
 
The Waves led 32-30 when Bambrick scored four points in an 8-0 run, giving them their first double-digit lead at 40-30 with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter. Fecske gave Pepperdine a couple of 11-point leads at 49-38 and 51-40 late in the quarter, and it was 51-43 at the end of the third.
 
At 53-45, Fecske had five points, including a three-pointer to cap a 9-0 run, putting Pepperdine up 62-45 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the contest, and there was no coming back from that for the Eagles.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine is home again against Cal State L.A. next Friday (Nov. 29) at 1 p.m. The game will be shown online via the WCC Network.