MALIBU, Calif. —  The Pepperdine women's basketball team started strong and took a halftime lead, but the Waves allowed two decisive Pacific runs during the second half in a 70-54 home loss on Thursday night.

The Waves (5-22, 1-13 West Coast Conference) put together a solid first quarter, shooting 6-for-6 from the field to open the game en route to amassing a 13-point lead. However, the Tigers (15-11, 7-6 WCC) clawed back into the game during the second half with a 16-2 third-quarter run, then a 14-0 fourth-quarter run to flip the script after the Waves' best first-half of WCC play.

Three Waves finished in double figures, led by Helena Friend's 13-point night on an efficient 3-for-5 shooting. As a team, the Waves took advantage of the conference's worst three-point defense by going 5-for-12 (41.7%) from beyond the arc, while holding Pacific to just 4-for-15 (26.7%) from three. But the Tigers made up for their perimeter defense by scoring 23 of their points off 24 Waves turnovers.

BIG WAVES

• Helena Friend (Huntington Beach, Calif./Blair Academy) led Pepperdine with 13 points on 3-for-5 shooting — including 2-from-3 from beyond the arc — plus she added four rebounds and an assist.

• Jane Nwaba (Carson, Calif. Palisades Charter HS) had her eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with her two steals, one block, and one assist.

• Mi'Cole Cayton (Stockton, Calif./St. Mary's HS) had her first double-figure scoring night as a Wave with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting.

Pepperdine's offense struck first when Nwaba found a rolling Maggie Vick (Morristown, Tenn./Lakeway Christian HS) for an easy layup, which was the first of six-straight makes for the Waves to start the game. Nwaba drove to the rim with ease en route to scoring four straight points, then Friend took over with two makes at the free-throw line. On Pepperdine's next possession, they took a seven-point lead off an Addi Melone (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) three.

Everything was working for Pepperdine early. The Waves got a lift late in the first quarter off a three-point play from Cayton, giving Pepperdine a 19-9 lead with 4 minutes and 3 seconds left in the quarter. With less than two minutes to go, Nwaba made a difficult layup through contact and completed the three-point play, which not only gave her 10 first-quarter points, but also put Pepperdine up by 13 — its largest lead of the night.

Taking a 24-16 lead into the second quarter, the Waves pushed the lead back to double-digits when Friend's effort on the offensive glass led to two points. Pepperdine had to withstand a 7-0 Pacific run, but the Waves snapped their scoreless drought when Megan Harkey (Summerfield, N.C./Northwest Guilford HS) dribbled under the basket and kicked it out to an open Friend, who buried the three from the left wing.

Another layup from Cayton put Pepperdine ahead by eight, 33-25, then Jorynn Ross (Milwaukee, Wisc./Summer Creek HS) made it a two-possession game on Pepperdine's final possession of the half to make the score 35-30 in favor of the Waves.

The halftime intermission didn't cool off Cayton, who opened the third quarter with five-straight points: first off a straightaway three and then by stealing an inbounds pass and finishing an emphatic layup to give Pepperdine a 41-34 lead. However, Pacific's Liz Smith's three-point play sparked a 16-2 run that put the Tigers back in front, 50-43. Friend's second three of the night made it a four-point game, but the Tigers scored on back-to-back possessions to go up 54-46 at the end of the third quarter.

Aside from an Emerita Mashaire (Helsinki, Finland/HBA Marksy) layup on Pepperdine's first possession, the Waves unfortunately could not cut the deficit to fewer than six points. Pacific went on a 14-0 run over the next nine minutes while Pepperdine's offense went cold. Late baskets from Melone and KK Brodie (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge HS) capped off the 70-54 home loss.