The Pepperdine women's basketball team dropped the first meeting of the season against the Portland Pilots 52-76 in the Chiles Center Saturday night.
 
The Waves (8-12, 3-8) started with a good pace, but foul trouble and lack of rebounds would give the Pilots (19-3, 8-3) opportunities to extend their lead throughout the game.
 
 
BIG WAVES
 
Senior Emerita Mashaire (Helsinki, Finland) led the Waves with 12 points as well as dishing out an assist with one defensive rebound.
 
Senior Ella Brubaker (University Place, Wash.) tied Mashaire for most points on the night with 12 in addition to grabbing three rebounds and two steals.
 
Senior Helena Friend (Huntington Beach, Calif.) put in the most work on the defensive side of the ball with a team-high six defensive rebounds.
 
KEY STATS
 
The Pilots got 20 points on second chances compared to Pepperdine's four.
 
Pepperdine outshot Portland from distance .286 to .222.
 
Nearly doubling the Waves, the Pilots grabbed 55 rebounds compared to Pepperdine's 31.
 
RECAP
 
Pepperdine came into the Chiles Center looking for answers to Portland, who has only lost three games all year. Starting the game on a positive note, the Waves were locked down on defense, forcing a Pilot turnover on their first possession due to a shot clock violation.
 
Despite the strong start on the defensive side of the ball, the Pilots came out swinging and went on an 8-0 run in the opening minutes of the game. Matching the energy, the Waves returned the favor with a 6-2 run of their own, down just 6-10 midway through the first quarter. Mashaire had eight of her 10 points of the night in the first quarter, keeping her team in the game as Pepperdine fell behind 21-17 in the first 10 minutes.
 
Getting three fouls early, Mashaire headed to the bench and Pepperdine's offense slowed. The first five minutes of the second quarter only saw six points from the Waves, as the Pilots managed to score 15. Things slowed for both teams to close out the first half and although six different Waves scored in the quarter, Pepperdine was down 27-40 at the break.
 
Offense was even harder to come by in the third quarter as the Pilots shut down all momentum the Waves tried to muster. Pepperdine had just two from the field in the third as Portland started to heat up, shooting .467 in the quarter. With one to go, the Waves trailed 34-57.
 
While shots started to fall in the fourth, the deficit was too much to overcome for the Waves. Despite shooting .467 from the field, with Brubaker having half of her 12 points in the final quarter, and knocking down two of the three shots from distance, the Pilots kept pace with Pepperdine's offense to close the game out.
 
The Waves fell to the Pilots in the Chiles Center with a final score of 52-76.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine is back in Malibu to take on the San Francisco Dons Thursday, Feb. 6 in Firestone Fieldhouse. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required).