Pepperdine Women’s Basketball hosted the University of the Pacific at Firestone Fieldhouse on Jan. 23.
The Waves entered the game with a 7-9 record through 16 games, with two wins and five losses through seven conference games. Pepperdine’s home game against Pacific comes as the first of two matchups this season.
Pepperdine took the lead early in this matchup, but found themselves trailing for a majority of the game and were unable to come back from the deficit.
“When we let things snowball to one or two possessions and that turns into three or four,” senior guard Makena Mastora said. “I think it’s important for us to just take a breather and pause and understand where we are in the game.”
The Waves started the game strong, opening with seven unanswered points against the Tigers.
Pacific found their way back into the game and both teams exchanged the lead. Pacific was able to score a layup to take the lead from the Waves 13-12, a lead they wouldn’t give back for the rest of the game.
That layup would be the start of a 7-0 run for the Tigers to close out the first quarter with a lead of 18-12.
The Tigers started off the second quarter with six unanswered points to push their lead to 24-12. The Waves looked ready to start a comeback after a three and a putback bucket brought them within seven points, forcing a timeout from Pacific.
Following the timeout, Pepperdine was able to get within five points, but the Tigers extended their lead going into halftime, as the Waves trailed 31-20.
The first half saw the Waves shoot just 25% from the field, while turning the ball over 11 times to Pacific’s six. The Tigers lead the rebound battle 26-18 with nine offensive rebounds to the Waves’ four.
Mastora acknowledged the difficulty of coming back from a large deficit at halftime, but the Waves didn’t go down without a fight.
“We just need to learn to come out from the beginning and compete really hard. That’s kind of what the main idea was at halftime, is just coming out and playing our game of basketball,” Mastora said. “We turned that around in some aspects, but it’s also tricky when you’re digging yourself out of a hole.”
Early in the second half, Pacific pushed their lead to 15 points, and continued to keep their foot on the pedal as they eventually ended the quarter with a 20 point lead, 48-28.
The third quarter saw the biggest point differential, with Pacific scoring 17 compared to the Waves eight.
The Waves were able to gain favor with the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, cutting a 20 point deficit down to 15. The fourth quarter was the only quarter where the Waves outscored the Tigers, 15-10.
The Waves lost the game 58-43 as they move to a 7-10 overall record and a 2-6 conference record.
Pepperdine ended the game with 42 rebounds to Pacific’s 44 and 19 turnovers to the Tigers’ six. The Tigers were able to score 21 points from turnovers compared to the Waves’ three, according to Pepperdine Athletics.
Pepperdine has the opportunity to split the series against Pacific with a second matchup Feb. 8 at Alex G. Spanos Center.
Senior guard Emerita Mashaire spoke about execution being the key in the next matchup against the Tigers.
“We had a very, very good game plan and very good scout, and I feel like we should have executed a little bit better as a team,” Mashaire said. “We need to just play tougher. The coaches have all the faith in us, we’re able to win these games.”
Pepperdine followed up the loss against Pacific with a home game against Gonzaga University on Jan. 25 at Firestone Fieldhouse. Pepperdine lost to Gonzaga 53-81 and moved to a 7-11 record on the season.
The Waves next game comes at home against Loyola Marymount University at Firestone Fieldhouse on Jan. 28.
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Email Nick Charkhedian: nareg.charkhedian@pepperdine.edu
