MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team got off to a great start in West Coast Conference play, defeating San Diego 73-57 on Saturday afternoon. Hannah Friend had her best game thus far as a Wave, dropping 27 points to lead all scorers.
 
The Waves (7-4, 1-0 WCC) led the Toreros (6-6, 0-1 WCC) by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter.
 
BIG WAVES

• Redshirt Senior guard Hannah Friend (San Clemente, Calif./Sacramento State) led all scorers with 27 points. She shot 12-15 from the field and made two threes. She also had two blocks.
• Senior guard Barbara Sitanggan (Fullerton, Calif./Troy HS) had 16 points, eight rebounds and nine assists on the day. She shot 407 from the field and 8-10 from the free throw line.
• Junior forward Monique Andriuolo (Melbourne, Australia/Maribyrnong Secondary College) had nine points and a team-high 12 rebounds. She also had a career-high four blocks.

 
GAME RECAP
The Waves got the game started with an Andriuolo jumper, and baskets were traded virtually the entire quarter. Six of Andriuolo's nine points came in the first, as the Waves led 21-20 going into the second quarter.
In the second, the Toreros took the lead with a couple of layups. The Waves then retook the lead on jumpers from Malia Bambrick (Santa Clarita, Calif./Bishop Alemany) and Friend. With just a minute left in the half, Friend hit a three-pointer to give the Waves a 36-30 lead in at the halftime break.
After the break, the Waves picked up right where they left off, matching the Torero's bucket for bucket, never leading by less than five the whole quarter. Friend had eight points in the quarter.
The fourth quarter was all Waves. The team outscored the Toreros 24-13 in the final ten minutes, including a 10-4 run to lead by as many as 20. Friend put up another 10 points in the fourth, leading the Waves to their first WCC victory of the year.
KEY STATS

• The Waves outshot the Toreros 43.5% to 32% from the field and 28.6% to 11.1% from beyond the arc.
• Pepperdine also controlled the boards, bringing down 46 rebounds compared to the 42 from San Diego.

UP NEXT
The Waves are back in Firestone Fieldhouse on Monday, Dec. 30, taking on BYU in a West Coast Conference matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m., with live video on the WCC Network.