MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine women's basketball (12-9, 3-6 WCC) surged in the second half to take the game from the Portland Pilots (11-10, 5-4 WCC) Saturday night in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
"Character coupled with growth can prove to be special, and that's what we felt tonight," head coach Katie Faulkner said. "We didn't let errors snowball, we stayed in attack mode the entire time, propelled by our willingness to stick together."
 
Letting the ball fly, the Waves opened the game unafraid to shoot. Lina Falk hit the first three of the night in the first, leading Pepperdine through the opening 10 minutes with seven points. Going a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, the Waves narrowly lead Portland 17-15 after the first quarter.
 
The Waves stretched the lead in the second quarter, outpacing the Pilots 18-13. Meghan Fiso led the squad with six in the second as the team shot .500 from the field. Trailing 21-26, the Waves went on a 14-2 run to end the half, aided by three from Bella Green and two from distance by Falk and Seleh Harmon. With half the game gone, Pepperdine led 35-28.
 
Coming out of the half on a mission, six different Waves scored in the third to triple the lead from seven to 21 by the end of the quarter. Elli Guiney, who shot .600 in the 10-minute stretch, scored a team-high seven followed closely by Green who had six. Falk grabbed a quarter-leading three rebounds as she tallied four more on to her stellar night. Heading into the fourth, Pepperdine had found their stride, leading 61-40.
 
In the fourth and final quarter, Falk put the exclamation point on the night, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 with 11 points. As a team, the Waves went 3-for-4 from deep as three different players hit a triple. Pepperdine led by as much as 26 before the Pilots got a few points back, falling short of overcoming the Waves' determination as the home team walked away with a 86-68 win.
 
Pepperdine women's basketball, now 12-9, has not hit the 12 win mark since the 2019-2020 season. Tonight was also the first win over the Pilots in seven seasons.
 
GAME NOTES
 

• Lina Falk led the team with a 25 points on a career-high 11 field goals, including 3-for-4 from distance.
• In the last five games, Falk is shooting a stunning .545 from three.
• Bella Green had a team-leading eight rebounds.
• The Waves shot .554 on the night, compared to the Pilots .375.
• Pepperdine hit eight threes (8-19), one more than Portland despite shooting nine less (7-28).
• The 18-point victory matches the Waves' margin of victory over the Tigers earlier this month.
• The Waves had 23 turnovers compared to the Pilots' 18.
• Four different Waves were in double-digits tonight.

 
Pepperdine stays home, next hosting newest-WCC opponent Seattle Thursday night. It is the Waves' National Girls & Women in Sports game, with commemorative bags given to the first fans in attendance. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with live stats available at www.pepperdinewaves.com
 
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.
 
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