SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Despite getting out to a good start offensively, the Waves fell 83-64 after the San Francisco Dons delivered an early knockout blow in the second quarter on Thursday.

The Dons (6-10, 2-1 West Coast Conference) went on a 21-0 run midway through the second quarter, forcing the Waves (5-11, 1-2 WCC) to play catch-up from that point forward. Although Pepperdine turned up its defensive pressure with a full-court press in the second half to pull within 13 points thrice in the third quarter, a barrage of USF free throws put the comeback attempt to rest.

BIG WAVES

• Jane Nwaba (Carson, Calif. Palisades Charter HS) stuffed the stat sheet for Pepperdine with 11 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals and two blocks.

• Maggie Vick (Morristown, Tenn./Lakeway Christian HS) finished with a career-high 10 points, five rebounds and a block.

• Mi'Cole Cayton (Stockton, Calif./St. Mary's HS) chipped in a season-high nine points.

• Ella Brubaker (University Place, Wash. Curtis HS) also finished with nine points.

KEY STATS

• San Francisco shot 4-for-7 (57.1%) from three during their 29-point second quarter.

• The Waves lost the battle of the boards by a 40-30 margin, partially due to USF forward Debora dos Santos' 16-point, 14-rebound double-double.

• Pepperdine out-shot USF from the charity stripe by connecting on 75% of its free throws, yet the Dons had 13 more attempts than the Waves.  

Playing against star USF forward Debora dos Santos, the Waves attacked the paint from the onset, scoring all of its first 10 points in the paint to take a 10-5 lead. Vick led the team during that run with four points before Cayton took over midway through the second quarter with a right-handed layup, a straight-away three and another layup on the next possession for seven quick points. 

With a 19-13 lead after a solid first-quarter start, the Waves' pushed their lead to seven off a Nwaba layup and Brubaker's second three of the night. Yet the Waves faltered on defense, giving up a three-point play from dos Santos and back-to-back threes, which got USF back in the game. Those miscues snowballed into a 21-0 Dons run that put the Waves behind the eight-ball as they trailed 42-29 at halftime.

Pepperdine strung together positive possessions to start the third quarter. Trailing by 16 points, Vick saved the ball from going out of bounds and tipped it to Helena Friend (Huntington Beach, Calif./Blair Academy), who found Vick open in the corner for a three. The Waves cut USF's lead to 13 on two more occasions thanks to layups from Friend and Vick, yet a 5-0 run from Dons guard Jasmine Gayles made momentum swing back towards San Francisco. USF went on a late 5-0 run entirely off free throws to go up by 19, yet Nwaba's three on the right side and a pair of Cayton free throws capped off the scoring for Pepperdine.

In an effort to get back in the game, Pepperdine turned to a full-court press, which was successful early in the fourth quarter. The Waves went on a mini 8-0 run thanks to Nwaba splitting a pair of free throws, Addi Melone (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) and Friend made baskets and another three from Nwaba that made it a 70-57 ballgame with 6 minutes and 26 seconds left. Once USF figured out how to manage the press, the Dons used transition layups and three free throws down the stretch to cap off their 83-64 win.