MALIBU, Calif. — Wrapping up its season-opening three-game home stand, the Pepperdine women's basketball team used a balanced offensive attack to beat Caltech 79-42 on Saturday.

All 12 of the Waves (2-1) found the boxscore against the Beavers (0-1) and the team made 32 field goals off a season-high 23 assists. Pepperdine out-shot the Beavers 54.2% to 27.9% in the Waves' biggest offensive output of the season so far.

Saturday night also marked the first Division I points for three Waves: true freshman Holly Griffiths (Melbourne, Australia/Our Lady of Mercy College), redshirt freshman Hailey Johnson (Coto de Caza, Calif./JSerra Catholic HS) and junior Ella Brubaker (University Place, Wash. Curtis HS), who transferred in from The Master's University (NAIA) this offseason.
 
BIG WAVES

• Megan Harkey (Summerfield, N.C./Northwest Guilford HS) was one point shy of her career high with 10 points (on 4-for-6 shooting), a team-high four assists, four rebounds and a block.
• Seeing the floor for the first time this season, Helena Friend (Huntington Beach, Calif./Blair Academy) hit her first three shots en route to a 10-point night. She also had two rebounds and two assists.
• Griffiths added nine points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal in her first collegiate minutes.
• Jane Nwaba (Carson, Calif. Palisades Charter HS) led the Waves on the boards for the third-straight game, pulling down nine rebounds to go along with her four points and three assists.

Pepperdine got off to a fast start in the first quarter, as the Waves got out to a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes off baskets from Myra Gordon (Fort Worth, Texas/L.D. Bell HS) and Emerita Mashaire (Helsinki, Finland/HBA Marksy). Caltech pulled within one, but Harkey went on a personal 4-0 run that made it a multi-possession game for good.

With a 17-11 lead heading into the second half, the Waves extended their lead to double-figures for the first time off a three from Maggie Vick (Morristown, Tenn./Lakeway Christian HS) and another jumper from Gordon. Scoring the first points of her Division I collegiate career, Brubaker nailed a three to cap off an 8-0 Pepperdine run.

Then the floodgates opened.

Vick, Addi Melone (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) and Griffiths made threes to help the Waves take a 36-18 lead on the Beavers with 1 minute and 40 seconds to go. Pepperdine had a 38-20 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime.

Interim head coach Kelsey Keizer relied on Pepperdine's starters for the opening minutes of the third quarter, yet after Pepperdine extended its lead to 22 off a Gordon three, the Waves mixed up its rotations from that point forward.

The Waves showed off their depth in the third quarter, shooting a game-best 9-for-13 (69.2%) from the field in the frame. Friend subbed in with 2 minutes and 41 seconds to go and caught fire, scoring five straight points to put Pepperdine up 59-30 with 44 seconds left. She also scored on Pepperdine's first possession of the fourth quarter, then KK Brodie (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge HS) gave the Waves their highest scoring output of the season as back-to-back layups made it a 67-30 game with 8:17 to play.

Later, Johnson fired up the Waves bench with a pull-up jumper with 5:11 to go, which put Pepperdine up 72-30 — its largest lead of the night.
 

UP NEXT: Pepperdine heads north to take on Fresno State on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m.