Women's Basketball Closes Regular Season at LMU
2/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
THIS WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Pepperdine women's basketball team closes out the regular season on Saturday when it takes on LMU on the road in a Wells Fargo PCH Cup matchup. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.
COVERAGE: Links to live stats and broadcasts will be available on PepperdineSports.com. Follow @PeppWBKB on Twitter for updates as well.
FOLLOW AND LIKE WAVES WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Be sure and join Pepperdine's growing communities on Facebook and Twitter. Follow and like the Waves today. Facebook: Pepperdine W Bball / Twitter: @PEPPWBKB
HOOPS EXTRA: Pepperdine is providing more insider content to its fans this season via the Hoops Extra basketball blog, which can be accessed at www.pepperdinesports.com/hoopsextra.
MOBILE APP: Pepperdine Athletics has launched a mobile app for iPad, iPhone and Android users. The app is free to download and features live scoring updates, news stories, on-demand video, photo galleries and much more. A subscription platform is also available to watch live video of home games. Go to your app store and search for "Pepperdine Athletics."
ROAD WIN: Pepperdine picked up a road win at San Francisco last week, downing the Dons 76-65 thanks to a 20-point performance by Keitra Wallace. The Waves hit 27-of-31 free throws in the game and made seven threes. Bria Richardson and Ea Shoushtari also added 15 points in the game, with 13 of Shoushtari's points coming in the second half to help the Waves pull away late and secure the WCC victory.
WCC STAT NOTES:
- · Bria Richardson 1st in steals (2.5 spg), Ea Shoushtari 6th (1.8 spg)
- · Richardson 8th in scoring (15.0 ppg), Wallace 13th (12.5), Green 18th (11.4)
- · Shoushtari 4th in assists (3.8 apg), Richardson 7th (3.3 apg)
- · Shoushtari 12th in 3-point FG's made (1.5 per game)
- · Shoushtari 5th in assist/turnover ratio (1.6), Richardson 6th (1.1)
- · Waves 2nd in turnover margin (+1.85)
- · Waves 4th in steals per game (8.4)
- · Waves 5th in free throw percentage (71.7%)
- · Waves 6th in 3-point FG defense (34.1%)
WCC TOURNAMENT: The WCC Tournament is scheduled for March 5-10 in Las Vegas, Nev. at the Orleans Arena. All 10 WCC teams go to the tournament, with the third-10th seeds opening play on March 5th, and the top two seeds get a first-day bye. The Waves opened last year's tournament with a win over Santa Clara, before falling to BYU.
DOWNING PORTLAND: The Waves picked up a 76-72 win over Portland, getting big days from Ea Shoushtari and Bria Richardson in the win. Shoushtari scored a season-high 21 points, going 5-for-8 from the 3-point line. Richardson filled up the stat line with 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. The Waves had four players score in double figures and had 17 assists to just 10 turnovers in the game.
FRESHMEN FOCUS: The Waves took both Pacific and Saint Mary's (2nd and 4th in the WCC) down to the wire two weeks ago thanks to solid performances by two freshman contributors. Olivia Ogwumike set two career-highs with 16 points and nine rebounds against Pacific, and then followed that up with a 10-point game against Saint Mary's later in the week. Kim Jacobs also had a career day, scoring 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from long range against Saint Mary's, leading the team in scoring on the day. Ogwumike is fifth on the team with 19.9 minutes per game and is averaging 5.0 points per contests, while Jacobs has seen action in 19 of 22 games this season.
LAST TIME AGAINST LM: Pepperdine opened WCC play with a thriller against crosstown rival LMU, coming back from 15 points down with six minutes to play to force overtime. The Waves won 98-91 in OT thanks to a career-high 30 points from Allie Green and a 29-point, eight-rebound, eight-assist, five-steal game from Bria Richardson.
SCHEDULE NOTES: The Pepperdine schedule features 11 non-conference games to go along with the full 18-game WCC slate. The Waves will play five national tournament participants during non-conference play (Nebraska, Iowa, Army, Cal State Northridge and Albany) as well as BYU and Gonzaga in WCC action. BYU made a Sweet 16 run last year, while Gonzaga was upset in the first round.
SENIOR GUARDS: Pepperdine returns the core of its starting lineup from last season including senior guards Bria Richardson and Ea Shoushtari. Richardson is coming off a breakout year that was derailed by a season-ending injury only a few weeks into conference play. The now-senior guard led the Waves in scoring last year and was at or near the top of the conference scoring list before she went down, putting up 16.9 points per game in 34.6 minutes per contest. Shoushtari took over the point guard duties for the second half of the year following Richardson's injury, scoring 12.0 points per game and showing her versatility by leading the team in rebounding with 6.7 boards per contest. A consistent outside threat, Shoushtari led the Waves with 59 three-pointers on the year, good for the fourth-best season total in Pepperdine history.
Ryan Weisenberg ERA: The start of the 2013-14 season marked the opening of the Ryan Weisenberg era at Pepperdine. Weisenberg has made stops on the professional, collegiate and prep level during his coaching tenure, most recently coaching the Manawatu Jets in the New Zealand National Basketball League. Weisenberg has also spent time on the staffs of the Los Angeles Lakers and Sparks, winning a total of five titles with the teams from 2000-05. He is the sixth coach in program history.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports - one of just 16 schools to have accomplished this feat - and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment and is the only school not affiliated with a BCS-level conference. The Waves have earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #57 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
