UPCOMING — The Pepperdine women’s basketball team (5-10, 0-2) looks forward to two home games this week. The Waves have played the last eight games on the road.

GAME #16 PEPPERDINE VS. ST. MARY’S— Thursday (Jan. 17), at 7 p.m, in Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, Calif.

GAME #17 PEPPERDINE VS. SANTA CLARA — Saturday, (Jan. 19), at 2 p.m., in Firestone Fieldhouse, Malibu, Calif.

ON THE WEB — Pepperdine fans can catch all home women’s basketball games on the internet at www.pepperdinesports.com. Live video, audio and statistics will be provided. Go to the Pepperdine Athletics website and look for the WaveCasts button.

SAINT MARY’S — Pepperdine’s record against St. Marys is tied at 23-23. In their last meeting (Jan. 07), the Waves defeated the Gaels in overtime,71-67, at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Saint Mary’s (9-8, 1-0) won its first conference game on Jan. 12, against Santa Clara, 74-71. Freshman forward Louella Tomlinson was the high scorer with 21 points and posted a double-double with 11 rebounds.

SANTA CLARA — The Bronco’s (11-4, 0-1) lead the series against the Waves, 28-25. Pepperdine was victorious in its last game against the Bronco’s (Jan. 07) 77-69 at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Santa Clara was defeated in its first conference game of the season by St. Mary’s on Jan. 12. Senior Jen Gottschalk was the leading scorer of the game with a game-high 30 points and 12 rebounds. Sara Majors recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

GONZAGA RECAP— Senior Daphanie Kennedy (Oakland, Calif. / Kearny HS) broke Pepperdine’s all-time steal record with her 184th career steal, in the Pepperdine women’s basketball team’s WCC opener against Gonzaga University. The Waves were defeated 68-56, at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash.

Freshman Katie Menton (Coarsegold, Calif. / Yosemite, HS) led the Pepperdine offense with 15 points. Menton scored 12 points in the first half.

PORTLAND RECAP— Playing without two injured starters, a frustrated Pepperdine women’s basketball team dropped its second conference game of the season to University of Portland 60-56, Saturday at Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.

Sophomore Miranda Ayim (London, Ontario, Canada) was the leading scorer for the Waves with 17 points.

DAPHANIE KENNEDY HITS 1,160 AND COUNTING — Senior guard Daphanie Kennedy broke the 1,000 point mark for her career (Nov. 28,) against UCLA.. She becomes the 16th player in Pepperdine history to surpass the 1,000-point level. Kennedy scored a total of 915 points in her first three seasons. Kennedy is currently ranked No. 4 in the WCC for scoring with a 17.0 average per game, No. 3 for steals with a 2.23 average per game. For Offensive rebounds, Kennedy is ranked No. 14 with 2.08 per game and No. 9 for assists with a 3.00 game average. Kennedy leads the team in scoring with 221 points

MIRANDA AYIM — Sophomore forward Miranda Ayim leads the WCC in field goals percentage with a .565 average and is ranked No. 1 for defensive rebounds with 5.85 per game. Ayim is ranked No. 10 in scoring with a 12.2 average per game and No. 3 in rebounding posting an 7.7 average per game. For blocked shots, Ayim holds the No. 4 position with a 1.92 game average and is ranked No. 3 for free throw percentages with an .822 average per game.

She is the second highest scorer for the Waves with 159 points.

TEIOSHA GEORGE — Junior forward Teiosha George is ranked No. 9 in the WCC for blocked shots with a 0.77 game average and holds the No. 12 spot for field goal percentages with a .457 average per game. For rebounds, George is ranked No. 9 with a 6.3 game average. George is the Waves No. 3 scorer with 121 points.

TEENA WICKETT — Sophomore forward Teena Wickett is ranked No. 4 in the WCC for rebounds with a 7.7 average per game. She holds the No. 12 spot for assists with a 2.83 average per game and ranks No. 3 for defensive rebounds with a 5.08 average per game. Wickett missed the last three games due to an ankle sprain.

JESSICA ROSS — Junior guard Jessica Ross was the Waves high scorer for two consecutive games with 12 points against Coppin State and 17 points against George Washington. Ross ranks No. 14 in the WCC for 3-point field goals made with a 1.31 average.

KATIE MENTON — Freshman guard Katie Menton led the Waves sin scoring against Gonzaga last week (Jan. 10 for 3-point shots made and ranks No. 9 in the WCC with a 1.69 average per game. The freshman sensation is No. 15 for 3-point field goal percentage with a .314 average per game and ranks No. 15 for blocked shots with a .54 average per game. For scoring, Menton holds the No. 29 position with 113 points and an 8.7 average per game.

ROSTER — All five starters and 10 letterwinners return from last year’s team, which went 14-17 overall and fifth in the WCC with a 6-8 record. The Waves added three new players (two true freshmen and one transfer) this year. The roster breakdown is as follows: four seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen.

TOP SIX — The WCC’s coaches released a preseason "top six" of the best players in the conference, and senior guard Daphanie Kennedy and sophomore forward/center Teena Wickett earned two of the six slots. Kennedy earned All-WCC first team honors as a sophomore and honorable mention as a junior. Wickett was an All-WCC first teamer as a freshman.

WCC PRESEASON POLL — Pepperdine was picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference in a preseason vote of the league’s coaches. The predicted order is as follows: San Diego, Gonzaga, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Saint Mary’s, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Portland.

JULIE ROUSSEAU — The fifth head coach in Pepperdine women’s basketball history, Julie Rousseau is now in her fourth season with the Waves. She is a former head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and was an assistant coach at Stanford before joining the Waves. In just her second season, she led Pepperdine to a WCC Tournament title and a spot in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

SERVICE — The women’s basketball team is one of the most involved teams at Pepperdine in community service. On Nov. 23, they hosted their second annual Time Out 4 HIV/AIDS Tournament to promote awareness and raise money to fight the disease. The tournament was also used as an avenue to raise funds for the rebuilding of the Malibu First Presbyterian Church. Unfortunately, the Malibu canyon fires forced the cancellation of the second day of the tournament. In October, they participated in a two-mile walk to support The Leukemia-Lymphoma Society, and on Thanksgiving, the team will spend the day feeding the homeless in downtown Los Angeles. All of this involvement, Rousseau believes, is the key to success in life and on the court – which is giving to others and making the world a better place.

PEPPERDINE HISTORY — Pepperdine has posted a winning record in 10 of the last 14 years and has registered six 20-win seasons over the past 10 years. The Waves captured the program’s first-ever West Coast Conference Tournament title in 2002 and followed that up with victories in 2003 and 2006. Pepperdine has also won at least a share of the regular-season championship in four of the last nine seasons. Pepperdine has made the postseason in seven of the last nine years, including the NCAA Tournament four times. The Waves also played in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament three times in recent years.

WAVES IN THE PROS — Rasheeda Clark, who played for the Waves from 1999-2001 and was the 2000 WCC Player of the Year, became the school’s first-ever player to be chosen in the WNBA Draft (however, she didn’t end up making a team). Then, Jennifer Lacy became the first WCC women’s basketball player to make a WNBA roster, as she won a spot with the Phoenix Mercury in 2006. Lacy was then part of the Mercury’s 2007 WNBA championship squad.

FIRESTONE FIELDHOUSE — Firestone Fieldhouse opened on Nov. 30, 1973. and it has long been the home of the Pepperdine women’s basketball program. Since the 1976-77 season, which spans the last 31 seasons, the Waves have won more than 63 percent of their home games. Pepperdine has posted 24 winning seasons at home and just six sub-.500 seasons.

TICKETS — A limited number of 2007-08 Pepperdine women’s basketball season tickets in the Lower Reserved section are available for purchase at a cost of $60 each. Individual game prices are $8 for adults and $5 for seniors and children. For more information please call 1-866-WAVE-TIX.