MALIBU, Calif. — Despite a second-half comeback attempt, the Pepperdine women's basketball team fell 69-49 to the San Diego Toreros, who avenged a loss to the Waves earlier this season.

The Toreros (6-19, 2-9 WCC) used a 10-0 run in the first quarter to take a double-digit lead on the Waves (5-20, 1-11 WCC), but Pepperdine cut the deficit to four points early in the third quarter. While the Waves turned up their defensive intensity in the second half to make a comeback attempt, 10 second-half turnovers hindered Pepperdine's effort to flip the script.

BIG WAVES

• Jane Nwaba (Carson, Calif. Palisades Charter HS) led Pepperdine with 16 points and tied the team-high with six boards. She also led Pepperdine with four assists.

• Helena Friend (Huntington Beach, Calif./Blair Academy) added 12 points — nine of which came in the second quarter — on 5-for-9 shooting. She also had six rebounds.

• Emerita Mashaire (Helsinki, Finland/HBA Marksy) chipped in five points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.

After both teams were locked in a 4-4 draw for the first three-and-a-half minutes of the game, the Toreros ripped off a 10-0 run to take a lead they would not relinquish. Nwaba split a pair of free throws, then Mashaire made a floater in the lane to cut the deficit to 10 points, then a big second quarter from Friend helped the Waves claw back in the game. In the final four minutes of the frame, Friend scored seven of Pepperdine's final eight points: first off a layup, then when Mi'Cole Cayton (Stockton, Calif./St. Mary's HS) found her in the corner for three and finally with a layup on the Waves' last possession to make it a 31-21 game at halftime.

Like Pepperdine did in the team's first meeting against San Diego, the Waves used a three-quarter court press and points in the paint to make a second-half run against the Toreros. Maggie Vick (Morristown, Tenn./Lakeway Christian HS) scored her first points of the game to cut USD's lead to single digits, which sparked an 8-1 run capped off by a midrange jumper from Jorynn Ross (Milwaukee, Wisc./Summer Creek HS) that pulled Pepperdine within four, 34-30. 

But USD's defense put the clamps on Pepperdine for the rest of the quarter as the Toreros went on a 13-0 run and held the Waves without a field goal for five minutes and 35 seconds. During the waning moments of the third quarter, Addi Melone (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) snapped the dry spell by sneaking behind USD's defense and hitting a corner three with less than 10 seconds to play.

Pepperdine relied on its three-quarter court press for the entirety of the fourth quarter. The Waves pulled within 13 points of USD once and 14 points twice, yet the Toreros connected on 50% of their field goals and forced four Waves turnovers to quash Pepperdine's comeback hopes.