Freshman guard Seleh Harmon goes for the layup against Westmont College on Nov. 8 at Firestone Fieldhouse. Harmon finished the game with eight points, four rebounds and four assists. Photos by Melissa Houston
Pepperdine Women’s Basketball beat the Westmont College Warriors 74-51 on Nov. 8 at Firestone Fieldhouse for their first home game of the season.
The Waves improved to 2-0 on the season after winning their season opener against California State, Fullerton 84-70 on Nov. 4.
“We’re a brand new team, 12 new people,” Head Coach Katie Faulkner said. “It just takes a second to get into who we are.”
Pepperdine’s starting lineup included junior guard Taija Sta. Maria, sophomore guard Ellison Guiney, junior forward Shorna Preston, graduate guard Meghan Fiso and senior forward Irune Orio.
The Waves struggled at the start of the game, as Westmont made two quick threes to take an 8-4 lead with seven minutes to go. Pepperdine could not stop the Warriors three ball, as another three from Westmont put the Warriors up seven.
“It’s just settling in,” Guiney said. “It’s a lot of new and just trying to build chemistry.”
Graduate guard Meghan Fiso attempts the jumper against Westmont College on Nov. 8 at Firestone Fieldhouse. Fiso shot 50% from the field in the game, totaling nine points.
The Waves slowly started to shift the momentum after graduate guard Bella Green scored a layup from a Warriors’ turnover, which was soon followed by graduate guard Ivory Finley’s layup to bring the score to 11-8.
Westmont managed to maintain their lead for the rest of the first, but two quick threes from Pepperdine in the final two minutes of the quarter tied it at 17.
Fiso made a layup to give the Waves their first lead since the start of the game, heading into the second quarter 19-17.
“It just stems from the bench energy,” Green said. “Coming in, everyone communicating, hyping each other up and playing for each other.”
Pepperdine started to take control of the game in the second quarter, quickly taking a 23-17 lead off two Warrior turnovers.
The Waves momentum kept rolling, scoring nine unanswered before a lone free throw from Westmont gave them their first points of the quarter to bring the score to 28-18.
Pepperdine kept building the lead, limiting Westmont’s ability to shoot and capitalizing off the missed layups. Guiney hit two threes in the final two minutes of the second quarter to bring the score to 38-23, followed by two Westmont free throws for a halftime score of 38-25.
“I was happy with the response from the first quarter,” Faulkner said. “We gave up 17 points then only eight in the second, so we really locked in defensively.”
Senior forward Irune Orio looks to pass against Westmont College on Nov. 8 at Firestone Fieldhouse. Orio had five rebounds and two assists in the game.
The Waves kept up the pressure heading into the third quarter, only allowing two points in the first three minutes while scoring four of their own and bringing the score to 42-29.
Both teams started to slow down heading into the latter half of the third quarter before a small Waves run in the final three minutes gave them a 24-point lead 53-29.
Westmont attempted to respond with a three, but Green’s layup and freshman guard Quinn VanSickle’s buzzer-beater three at the end of the third gave Pepperdine a 58-34 lead heading into the fourth.
“Our post did a great job of hitting people,” Guiney said. “So it just got into more a flow.”
Both offenses quieted down in the fourth, totaling six points by the seventh minute. Westmont made their first basket of the fourth with 6:57 left to play, but the Waves lead grew more, reaching 26 and bringing the score to 64-38.
Pepperdine slowed it down on offense, taking longer possessions while the Warriors kept trying to pressure offensively at an attempt to come back, putting up a total of 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Senior forward Irune Orio (right) and graduate guard Bella Green (left) press the Westmont College offense Nov. 8 at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves had three blocks, six steals and 31 defensive rebounds in the match.
“We work really hard on getting rebounds and not letting them get any rebounds,” Green said. “Also not letting them get three-pointers as well.”
Despite a few scores from Westmont, the Waves kept their lead above 20 for the rest of the game, making the final score 74-51 after a Warrior three in the final 45 seconds.
“There’s a lot of things we need to fix in working on us,” Faulkner said. “I’m a big believer in that, still getting skill development and working all the kinks out.”
Guiney led the Waves with 15 points followed by Green with 13. Shorma led Pepperdine with nine rebounds, while Harmon and Finley put up four assists each.
The Waves shot 30 for 66, including 10 for 27 from three along with 49 total rebounds compared to Westmont’s 27.
Pepperdine’s next match is against Northern Arizona University on Nov. 19 at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz.
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Email Shane Stephens: shane.stephens@pepperdine.edu
