Gallery: (11-4-2024) Women's Basketball vs CSU Fullerton
In a thrilling come-from-behind win, the Pepperdine women's basketball team opened up the 2024-25 season with a 59-57 victory over the California State Fullerton Titans Monday night. A huge second half with nearly double the points scored in the first would be enough to secure the Waves' first win under head coach
Katie Faulkner.
The Waves (1-0) continued the streak of now seven straight home-opening wins. Leading for just 3:09 of the game, Pepperdine peaked at the right time to start the season out on the right foot.
The win also marks the first as a head coach for Faulkner.
"I'm immensly proud of the character of this group," Faulkner said. "We talk a lot about staying process focused, so to keep our nerve and chip away little by little and then step up and make plays when we needed to shows what's possible for this group. Lots to grow and learn from, but it's a great start."
BIG WAVES
Graduate
Ella Brubaker (University Place, Wash.) put up 10 points, contributed five rebounds and shot 4-for-5. The guard was instrumental in the fourth quarter, getting stops on the defensive end that fueled the Waves' offense.
Graduate
Ornela Muca (Athens, Greece) was a perfect 2-2 from beyond the arc and had one of the Waves' four steals on the night.
Senior
Megan Harkey (Summerfield, N.C.) had a team-high five defensive rebounds, contributing 10 of her own points with two assists.
KEY STATS
The Waves shot 78.6% from the free-throw line compared to the Titans' 44.4%, making the difference in the game.
Nearly doubling the opponent, Pepperdine scored 15 points off turnovers, compared to CSU Fullerton's eight.
28 points came from the Waves bench, proving valuable depth in crucial moments.
RECAP
It was clear from the start the game was going to be a defensive battle. Harkey had the first points of the season for the Waves with a layup thanks to a Titan turnover. Senior
Addi Melone (Las Vegas, Nev.) scored her first points of the night as the first quarter came to a close with Fullerton leading 10-8.
Despite tying it up four separate times in the second quarter, Pepperdine was only able to take the lead once for a brief 12 seconds. The Waves were fighting an uphill battle, down seven at half.
Pepperdine struggled to find footing coming out of the half. For the largest deficit of the night, Fullerton led 37-23 midway through the third quarter, but six unanswered points would give the Waves hope, trailing by 12 with five to go in the quarter. Brubaker proved to be the game-changer for Pepperdine, scoring two unanswered buckets and bringing the Waves within striking distance. Ending the quarter down by only six, Pepperdine had outscored CSU Fullerton 20-19 heading into the fourth.
The Titans were not going down without a fight. Comfortably leading for the majority of the game, CSU Fullerton stayed calm, going up by 10 with eight to go in the contest. The two teams were trading layups and with four minutes to go but Pepperdine was still down eight. Brubaker sparked the comeback with a steal, drawing a foul on the offensive end and sinking two free throws to bring Pepperdine within six.
After one made free throw by CSU Fullerton, Muca drained her second three of the night to make it a four point game with 2:31 to go. Once again, it was Brubaker who took the ball from the Titans and put Sotell's miss into the basket to make it a one possession game.
Brubaker's third defensive rebound of the night allowed Harkey to tie the game with 1:39 remaining. A series of missed baskets would give graduate
Malia Mastora (Alameda, Calif.) the opportunity to grab the defensive rebound and put the ball back into the reliable hands of Brubaker who gave the Waves a 59-57 lead with less than a minute to go.
Pepperdine was able to hold on and give Coach Faulkner a win on her first time out as a head coach.
UP NEXT
The Waves travel south to face UC Irvine in a 11:30 a.m. matinee game Thursday, Nov. 7.
