MALIBU, Calif. – The Pacific women's basketball shut down the Pepperdine offense in a 58-43 road win Thursday from the Firestone Fieldhouse.

Pepperdine (7-10, 2-6 WCC) reached its 43 points on just 30.2% shooting (16-for-53), marking the fourth time in six games Pacific (10-10, 6-4 WCC) has held its opponent under 35% from the floor in the month of January.

Pacific is now 7-0 this season when holding its opponent below 35% from the field and has not lost such a game since Feb. 18, 2023 against Portland (won 20 straight such games).

The 53 attempts the Waves did manage to get off ties for the second fewest Pacific has allowed this season.

When Pacific wasn't forcing missed shots, the team was forcing turnovers via the steal. The team picked up 12 more steals led by graduate Liz Smith's five, following up the seven she stole against San Francisco. With the now back-to-back five-plus steal performances, she becomes just the third player since the start of the 2020-21 season to do so (joining now assistant coach Valerie Higgins and senior Anaya James).

The graduate was also a major catalyst for the offense, picking up 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting and two three-pointers. However, Pacific's leading scorer was James with 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting, also with two three-pointers. James also posted four rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block.

Junior Sydney Ward was a beast on the boards for Pacific adding another nine to her season ledger. She also garnered a block to give her 27 on the season.

Freshman Tyla Fautua meanwhile set a new career-high with two blocks against the Waves during her career-most 17 minutes played.

Fellow freshman Daria Nestorov, who also played 17 minutes, collected two steals and two assists to aid the winning effort.

Up next, Pacific returns to Stockton for another game with Oregon State after winning the first meeting 66-63 in overtime on Dec. 5.. Tip-off Saturday from the Alex G. Spanos Center is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

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