MALIBU, Calif. — Despite clawing within six points of the visiting Long Beach State Beach midway through the fourth quarter, the Pepperdine women's basketball team fell 68-53 in Firestone Fieldhouse on Monday.

The game between the Waves (2-6) and The Beach (3-2) was a physical one that featured 37 fouls and 30 turnovers between the two teams. Pepperdine mounted a second-half comeback with a 7-0 run late in the third, then pulled within six points off a Long Beach State technical foul, but The Beach used a late surge to put the game away.

BIG WAVES

• Ella Brubaker (University Place, Wash. Curtis HS) led Pepperdine in scoring for the third-straight game. She scored 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field, plus she added two assists and a steal.

• Jane Nwaba (Carson, Calif. Palisades Charter HS) had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists

• Megan Harkey (Summerfield, N.C./Northwest Guilford HS) finished with eight points, two rebounds, a steal and a block in 19 minutes.

• Myra Gordon (Fort Worth, Texas/L.D. Bell HS) finished with a game-high nine rebounds, which also doubled as her career high.

KEY STATS

• Long Beach State shot 13-for-20 from the free-throw line and 8-for-12 (75%) in the fourth quarter to ice the game.

• Pepperdine out-rebounded Long Beach State 35-32 and was active on the offensive glass. The Waves had 16 offensive rebounds to LBSU's nine.

• The Beach scored 26 points off 18 Pepperdine turnovers.

In a back-and-forth first quarter, The Beach struck first with a three on the opening possession, yet Pepperdine countered by going inside. Nwaba drove to the rim, Emerita Mashaire (Helsinki, Finland/HBA Marksy) sank a midrange jumper and Maggie Vick (Morristown, Tenn./Lakeway Christian HS) worked it inside to give Pepperdine a 6-4 lead with 5 minutes and 52 seconds to go. The Beach only led by as many as four points in the first quarter until a three from Addi Melone (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) made it a one-point game with 33 seconds in the frame. 

The Beach held a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and threatened to break the game open in the second. Four straight points from Vick tied the game at 17 in the first two minutes of the quarter, then both teams struggled to score. Pepperdine turned to its bench midway through the second quarter and got immediate production from Brubaker and Jorynn Ross (Milwaukee, Wisc./Summer Creek HS) — first when Brubaker nailed a straightaway three, and then when Brubaker found a cutting Ross for an easy layup to make it a five-point game with one minute and 45 seconds left in the period.

Trailing 33-22 at halftime, Pepperdine mounted its comeback attempt by working the ball in the paint to Harkey and with Nwaba making an acrobatic layup to make it a 36-26 game. Ross once again sparked the Waves with extra effort on the boards and key defense on LBSU's bigs, plus her layup with under four minutes to go sparked an 11-4 Waves run. Mashaire finished a layup through contact, Melone knocked down another three, then Ross and Nwaba scored on back-to-back possessions to make it a single-digit game.

Pepperdine's run continued in the fourth quarter, hanging around until a pivotal possession with 6 minutes and 57 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Harkey drew a technical foul on LBSU's Jada Crawshaw, which sent the senior forward to the free-throw line. Harkey sank both free throws, giving Pepperdine a chance to pull within three points of the Beach.

But despite two offensive rebounds on the next possession, Pepperdine couldn't capitalize on the moment. On the other end, The Beach ripped off a decisive 9-0 run that made it a 60-45 game with 2 minutes and 45 seconds to go. Late threes from Brubaker chipped away at the deficit but the Waves would fall 68-53.