UPCOMING — The Pepperdine women’s basketball team (9-17, 4-9), play its last conference game at home this weeked. The game also marks the last game in Firestone Fieldhouse for three seniors. On Saturday, the Waves will honor seniors Teiosha George, Shannon Johnson and Daphnie Kennedy at Senior Day.

GAME #27 PEPPERDINE VS. SAN FRANCISCO — At Firestone Fieldhouse, located in Malibu, Calif., at 2:00 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 30.

SAN FRANCISCO — The University of San Francisco (14-14, 5-8) women’s basketball team is coming off a big win over Santa Clara (Feb. 23). Santa Clara is currently ranked No.2 in the WCC. However, they suffered a loss to LMU (Feb. 28), 65-41.

The Dons defeated The Waves at their last meeting (1-31) 81-75, in San Franciscol

TICKETS FOR WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS — The Pepperdine women’s basketball team will compete at the 2008 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships from March 6-10, 2008 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego.

SAN DIEGO RECAP — Miranda Ayim notched 24 points and 13 rebounds and the Pepperdine women’s basketball team extended its winning streak to three games with a 65-51 win over San Diego on Thursday night at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Ayim (London, Ont.,Canada/Saunders Secondary) notched her seventh double-double of the season with her effort, Daphanie Kennedy (Oakland, Calif./Kearny HS) recorded 16 points and four rebounds and Teena Wickett (Oakland, Calif./Castlemont HS) notched seven points and eight rebounds.

 

NEW PICTURES ON THE WEB — Photos taken at the Feb. 9 Gonzaga game are now available for viewing in the photo galleries on the women’s basketball website.

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.

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT RECAP — Following the lead of a victorious Pepperdine men’s team, the women’s team defeated cross-town rivals Loyola Marymount, 60-49, at Gersten Pavilion, in Los Angeles, Calif.

Alisha Bryant (Pacoima, Calif. / Chatsworth HS) was responsible for eight points in the first ten minutes of the game. Daphanie Kennedy (Oakland, Calif. / Kearney HS) was the game high scorer with 18 points.

DAPHANIE KENNEDY HITS 1,399 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. 1 in the WCC for scoring with a 22.2 average per game, Kennedy leads the team in scoring with 488 points. Kennedy is No. 3 in the WCC for 3-point field goal made, averaging 1.83 per game.She hold the No. 3 spot for free throw percentages with .833.

MIRANDA AYIM — Sophomore forward Miranda Ayim (London, Ontario) is ranked third in the WCC for field goals percentage with a .524 average and moved up to No. 2 for blocked shots with 2.08 per game. Ayim is ranked No. 12 for scoring with a 12.8 average per game and No. 4 in rebounding, posting an 8.8 average per game. She is the second highest scorer for the Waves with 312 points.

SHANNON JOHNSON — Senior guard Shannon Johnson is No. 3 on the WCC list for assist/turnover ratio. Johnson recorded 33 assists to 19 turnovers to give her a 1.70 ratio. She’s No. 6 for assists with a 3.40 average per game.

KATIE MENTON — Freshman guard Katie Menton had a career-high scoring game against Saint Mary’s with 18 points. Menton ranks No. 5 and is the leading freshman for 3-point field goals made with a 1.42 average per game. The freshman sensation is No. 13 for 3-point field goal percentage with a .298 average per game. For scoring, Menton holds the No. 24 position with 112 points scored in conference play and an 9.3 average per game. Menton is the Waves third leading scorer with 225 points.

ALISHA BRYANT — Junior forward Alisha Bryant shares the No. 6 ranking with Vivien Frieson (Gonzaga) for blocked shots. Bryant recorded 10 blocks with an 0.83 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.