MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine women's basketball (5-2) handed California Baptist (6-2) just their second loss of the season Wednesday night in Firestone Fieldhouse.
"I love figuring out the puzzle with this team," head coach
Katie Faulkner said. "California Baptist is a good team with a lot of weapons and I am very happy with how we locked in on scout defense."
Led by junior
Shorna Preston, who secured the Waves' first double-double of the season, Pepperdine got on a roll starting in the second quarter and maintained the lead throughout the remainder of the game.
Getting off to a slow start , Pepperdine shot just 2-14 from the field in the opening 10 minutes, including 0-7 from distance. With one quarter gone, the visitors had an 8-17 advantage.
Staying the course, the Waves kept putting shots up and eventually, they started to fall. Opening the latter 10 minutes of the half on a 16-4 run, Preston contributed six while
Lina Falk was a perfect 3-3 in the stretch. In the second quarter alone, three Waves put up 8 points in Preston, Falk, and
Seleh Harmon. Putting together a 29 point quarter while limiting the Lancers to just 10 points of their own, the Waves were up 37-27 at the break.
Keeping the foot on the gas in the third quarter, the Waves grew their lead to as large as 21. With nearly half the team's 21 points in the quarter,
Elli Guiney shot 4-6, good for 10 headed into the final stretch of the game.
Despite shooting .455 from the field in the final quarter, the Waves were outscored by a CBU squad looking for ways to get back into the game. Fighting the momentum swing in the fourth, Pepperdine was able to maintain the lead in the closing minutes to pull off a 69-58 victory.
Up next, the Waves head north to Fresno State to take on the Bulldogs in a Saturday night showdown before starting a four-game home stretch. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) and live stats will be available at
pepperdinewaves.com
GAME NOTES
- With the first double-double of the season for the Waves, Shorna Preston led the squad with 21 points and 13 boards.
- Adding in Preston's three steals and two blocks, she joins an elite group as she is one of four in the country to put up such a stat line. (Sarah Strong of UConn, Madina Okot of South Carolina, and Taliyah Logwood of Texas Southern)
- Lina Falk was 5-7 on the night, including a perfect 2-2 from distance.
- For the first time this season, the Waves had less turnovers than their opponent by a count of 13-16.
- Pepperdine outrebounded CBU 45-38.
- 69 points is the least the Waves have scored in a win this season.
- Shooting better from the line, Pepperdine netted 11-14, compared to CBU's 9-13.
- The Lancers had double the Waves bench points by a count of 26-13.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine women's basketball has made four NCAA postseason appearances in its history, having won the WCC regular-season four times and the WCC Tournament on three occasions. With six All-American selections in program history, the Waves have also seen success in the WNIT Tournament which included a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2019.
TICKETS
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