Waves Drop First Road Game of the Season at Fresno State

FRESNO, Calif. — Despite trailing by only three points at halftime, the Pepperdine women’s basketball team fell 74-55 to Fresno State on Wednesday night.

A big, 26-point third quarter from the Bulldogs (3-0) gave the Waves (2-2) their first road loss of the year. Pepperdine nearly shook off a slow first-quarter start and shot 70% from the field in the second quarter to hang around with the hosts, but the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half.

 

BIG WAVES

• Myra Gordon (Fort Worth, Texas/L.D. Bell HS) finished in double-figures for the third time this season with 14 points — 10 of which came in the first half.

• Jane Nwaba (Carson, Calif./Palisades Charter School) scored the majority of her 12 points by attacking the rim and drawing fouls from the Bulldogs. She tied the team-high with five rebounds.

• True freshman Holly Griffiths (Melbourne, Australia/Our Lady of Mercy College) chipped in a career-high 10 points off the bench.

• Sophomore KK Brodie (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge HS) also finished with five rebounds, plus a career-high five blocks in 17 minutes of action.

 

KEY STATS

• Pepperdine out-rebounded Fresno State 32-31. 

• Fresno State out-shot the Waves 45.0% to 40.4% from the field. The Bulldogs scored 27 of their points off Pepperdine turnovers.

• Fresno State’s Mia Jacobs led all scorers with 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting.

 

Appearing in the starting lineup for the first time this season, senior forward Megan Harkey (Summerfield, N.C./Northwest Guilford HS) scored four of Pepperdine’s first six points to start the game. However, aside from Harkey and Gordon, the Waves couldn’t get anything going offensively until a three from Addi Melone (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) tied the game at nine points with 4 minutes and 13 seconds left in the first. The tie was short-lived; Fresno State’s Mia Jacobs scored five-straight points to put the Bulldogs in front.

Although Jacobs opened up the scoring with back-to-back buckets for the Bulldogs, a three from Maggie Vick (Morristown, Tenn./Lakeway Christian HS) with 8 minutes and 37 seconds left sparked a 9-2 Pepperdine run that made it a 23-22 game in favor of the Bulldogs. Three consecutive layups from Bineta Diatta gave Fresno State the upper hand again, yet an and-one opportunity from Jane Nwaba quelled the Bulldogs’ run. On Pepperdine’s final possession of the half, Gordon went coast-to-coast to make it 30-27 game in favor of Fresno State at the break.

Fresno State scored four straight points off two Pepperdine turnovers in the first minute of the third quarter, prompting a Pepperdine timeout. Gordon got into double-figures to help Pepperdine pull within five points, yet the Waves wouldn’t get closer. A 9-0 Fresno State run put the hosts up 43-29 with 6:38 left in the third, then another late 6-0 run in the quarter gave the Bulldogs a 20-point lead.

The Waves whittled away the Bulldogs’ lead to 18 points off a deep two-pointer from Holly Griffiths and another and-one from Nwaba, yet Fresno State kept the Waves at bay in the fourth quarter despite eight, late fourth-quarter points from Griffiths.

UP NEXT: Pepperdine heads to Reno, Nev. to take on the Nevada Wolf Pack on Friday, Nov. 17.