Martin Leads UCLA Past Pepperdine

The UCLA women’s basketball team, still without senior point guard Erica Gomez because of shoulder surgery, got an All-American second-half performance by forward Maylana Martin Saturday in an 86-67 victory over Pepperdine at Malibu.

Martin, working inside, scored 21 points on eight-of-16 shooting as she benefited from a season-best three-point shooting (eight of 17) by her teammates that softened up Pepperdine’s zone defense.

UCLA (4-2) started fast, but the Waves’ collapsing zone made it an even game for the last five minutes of the first half.

“In the first half, they sagged on me and blocked me out, too,” Martin said.

“But when Kaz [Nicole Kaczmarski] and Michelle [Greco] starting hitting those threes, it opened things up inside for me.”

Kaczmarski, the highly touted freshman recruit from New York, made four of nine three-point shots, and Greco made four of five.

Greco and Kaczmarski had career highs of 20 points each and together they provided UCLA with a three-point output that beat the team’s season total. Coming in, UCLA had a total of seven three-pointers in five games.

With UCLA holding a 9-5 lead, Kaczmarski made two three-point shots 30 seconds apart, then sank a 16-foot shot. When Greco followed with another three, UCLA had a 20-9 lead. Kaczmarski had another three-pointer late in the half, but Pepperdine rallied to trail by only 39-37 at the intermission.

Martin broke the game open shortly after halftime. In two minutes, she took UCLA from a 41-37 lead to 49-41 with three inside shots and two free throws.

“I felt like we got into a good rhythm in the second half--it felt good to be running up and down the court on them,” she said.

Martin passed Ann Meyers on the UCLA career scoring list with her first basket of the game. She’s now in fifth place.

The Waves were led by Rasheeda Clark, who had 19 points.