MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's basketball team fell in the first game of the PCH Cup rivalry series to LMU with a 64-50 home loss on Saturday.

In an uncharacteristic performance for the West Coast Conference's top three-point defense, the Waves' (5-10, 1-1 WCC) defense allowed the Lions (6-8, 1-1 WCC) to connect on 8-for-20 (40%) of their three-pointers. LMU outshot Pepperdine by connecting on 39% of its shots to the Waves' 34.7% clip, plus the Lions dished out 15 assists to make 23 of their field goals.

BIG WAVES

• Addi Melone (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) led all starters with 10 points on 4-for-13 shooting, plus had four assists, two rebounds and three steals. 

• Helena Friend (Huntington Beach, Calif./Blair Academy) added 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting off the bench.

• Jorynn Ross (Milwaukee, Wisc./Summer Creek HS) chipped in eight points, three rebounds and a steal, plus set a new career-high with three blocks.

KEY STATS

• LMU connected on 40.0% of its threes while Pepperdine made just 12.5% of its threes.

• The Lions won the rebounding battle by a 42-29 margin and scored 20 second-chance points.

• Pepperdine committed fewer turnovers than LMU (16 to the Lions' 18) and scored 16 points off Lion miscues.

Melone got the Waves off to a quick start, scoring four of the team's first eight points in the first quarter. Pepperdine used a mini, 5-0 run to go up 9-8 with 5 minutes and 15 seconds left in the quarter, but LMU's leading scorer De'Ja Hamilton responded with a personal 5-0 run of her own late in the period to help the Lions take the lead. LMU found open shooters in the corner and closed the period on a 9-0 run, which would turn the tide of the game for good.

Pepperdine consistently got to the free-throw line in the second quarter — six of the team's 10 points came from the charity stripe — but nine turnovers in that span negated any progress for the Waves, as they trailed 33-24 at halftime.

Both offenses stalled as the game slowed to a crawl to begin the third quarter. Neither team could find the bottom of the net for nearly three minutes until Ella Brubaker (University Place, Wash./Curtis HS) stole the ball from LMU's Sydney Gandy and took it the length of the court for an easy layup.

From there, the LMU lead ballooned to 14 points until a three-point play from Holly Griffiths (Melbourne, Australia/Our Lady of Mercy College) cut the deficit to 11. Myra Gordon (Fort Worth, Texas/L.D. Bell HS) — who scored four of her five points in the third — cut the LMU lead to single digits, but the Waves couldn't get closer. The Lions led by as many as 21 points in the second half as they handed Pepperdine a 64-50 home loss.