STOCKTON, Calif. — Wrapping up its two-game road trip to Northern California, the Pepperdine women's basketball team came up empty in a 72-49 loss at Pacific on Saturday.

A slow start from the Waves (5-13, 1-4 West Coast Conference) and an opening quarter that saw the Tigers (12-7, 4-2 WCC) connect on 50% of their field goals put Pepperdine at an early disadvantage. Although Pepperdine's defense improved in the second half, a few untimely transition baskets from the Tigers snapped any comeback the Waves could muster. All told, Pepperdine was only outscored by five points in the second half, yet Pacific had an 18-point lead at halftime.

BIG WAVES

• Jorynn Ross (Milwaukee, Wisc./Summer Creek HS) led Pepperdine with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting.

• Helena Friend (Huntington Beach, Calif./Blair Academy) added 11 points, two rebounds and a career-high four steals.

• KK Brodie (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge HS) chipped in eight points, two rebounds, two steals and three blocks off the bench.

The first quarter was an uptempo affair, as both teams used defense to spark transition offense opportunities from the jump. Pacific got out to a 4-0 lead, but Jane Nwaba (Carson, Calif. Palisades Charter HS) dished out the first of her team-high six assists by passing up a layup for a short-corner jumper from Friend. On Pepperdine's next possession, Nwaba found Ross for a layup to make it an 8-4 ballgame. Both teams went cold for nearly three minutes, going a combined 0-for-6 from the field until Addi Melone (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS)'s long two pulled Pepperdine within four points again. However, Pacific went on a 10-2 run to close the quarter.

Trailing 20-8 entering the second quarter, Ross kept things going for the Waves offensively by notching her fourth game of the year with double-figure scoring only 12 minutes into the contest. Ross' layup made it a 22-17 game with eight minutes to go, yet Pacific turned on the afterburners with a 13-0 run. Pepperdine snapped its cold streak when KK Brodie corralled an offensive board, which led to Stockton native Mi'Cole Cayton (Stockton, Calif./St. Mary's HS) knifing through the lane for an acrobatic finish. 

Despite Pacific's two big runs in the first half, Pepperdine made things interesting in the third quarter. In a quarter that saw Pacific narrowly outscore Pepperdine 21-20, the Waves attacked the rim, got Pacific in foul trouble and strung together positive possessions on offense to muster a comeback.

Pepperdine's run began with 7 minutes and 42 seconds left in the frame. Two short corner jumpers from Brodie bookended a fastbreak layup when Nwaba pitched the ball ahead to Friend, who beat everyone back for an easy score. From there, Pepperdine quickly got into the bonus and kept getting to the line on a few tough finishes underneath: First, Cayton drove to the basket and split a pair of free throws, then Brodie finished a layup through contact for an opportunity at a three-point play. Friend scored five of her 10 points in the third quarter alone — three of which were off free throws.

Yet whenever Pepperdine strung together good offensive possessions, Pacific would answer with either baskets of their own, or easy transition run-outs that quashed Pepperdine's comeback attempts. Aside from a 7-0 Waves run midway through the fourth quarter, both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net as Pacific ground out a 72-49 win.