As Noozhawk reported, the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team defeated Pepperdine 58-54 on Thursday in Malibu. Freshman Karisma Flores scored a team-high 16 points for the Gauchos, playing the entire second half after sitting out much of the first half due to foul trouble. Coach Renee Jimenez stated that Flores made four three-pointers during the victory, including a tie-breaking shot in the fourth quarter. Olivia Anderson added 13 points for UCSB, scoring six in the final eight minutes, while senior point guard Maddie Naro contributed eight assists. Elli Guiney led Pepperdine with 19 points. The win marked UCSB's second victory of the season-opening week.