MALIBU, Calif. –The Pepperdine women's basketball returns to Malibu this week to begin West Coast Conference play against two of the top three teams in conference in Portland and Gonzaga. Pepperdine hosts Portland on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Gonzaga on Monday at 12 p.m.
 
GAME #11: Saturday (Dec. 29) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (6-4) vs. Portland (8-3) at 2 p.m. PT.
 
GAME #12: Monday (Dec. 31) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. Gonzaga (11-1) at 12 p.m. PT.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Waves won their final game of the Friar Holiday Classic, coming back from 13 points in the second half to defeat Northern Kentucky, 51-46.
 
In the other two games in the tournament, the Waves fell to host Providence 66-47 and La Salle 62-55.
 
ROBINSON-BACOTE:  Yasmine Robinson-Bacote was the first Wave of the season to earn WCC Player of the Week on Nov. 26, thanks to her 47 points against Sacramento State. She is currently 14th all-time in Pepperdine women's basketball history with 1,247 career points. She is 64 points behind Nadja Morgan in 13th place.
 
COVERAGE: Links to live stats and broadcasts will be available on the women's basketball schedule page at PepperdineWaves.com. Fans can also follow
@WavesHoops on Twitter for live, in-game updates.
 
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK: Yasmine Robinson-Bacote had the night of her life on Friday, Nov. 23 against Sacramento State. The senior forward from Hillside, N.J. scored a Pepperdine women's basketball record 47 points in the 113-97 victory. She shot 19-28 from the field, and pulled in 13 rebounds, both leading the team. She also added four assists and two steals.
 
CRISIS RELIEF: In the wake of recent crises within our community, we have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support for our Pepperdine family. Many have asked how they can help and where they can give. Learn more: impact.pepperdine.edu/crisisresponse #PepperdineStrong


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: Waves Hoops / Twitter: @WavesHoops / Instagram: @peppwbb.
 
COMPETING WITH PURPOSE BLOG: Pepperdine is providing more insider content to its fans this season via the Competing With Purpose blog, which can be accessed at www.pepperdinewaves.com/purpose.
 
SERIES VS. PORTLAND: Pepperdine leads the overall series with the Pilots 37-29, but the Pilots have won four of the last five meetings between the teams. The Waves won at home last year 83-79.
 
SERIES VS. GONZAGA: The Bulldogs have won five of the last six meetings and the last four overall. The last win for the Waves came in the 2016 season in Malibu when the Waves defeated the Bulldogs 79-69.
 
FREQUENT FLIERS: The Waves have really racked up their frequent flier miles so far this year. Thanks to trips to Hawaii and Rhode Island, the Waves have logged 8,327.37 miles traveled on the year.
 
PRESEASON ALL-WCC: Fresh off being named to the All-WCC first team for the second straight year, senior forward Yasmine Robinson-Bacote was named to the conference's preseason all-conference team. Robinson-Bacote scored 18.0 points per game last year, good for third in the WCC. She also became the 23rd player in Pepperdine women's basketball history to score 1,000 points, as well as becoming the first Wave to earn All-WCC first team honors in consecutive seasons since 2012.
 
THE ROSTER: This year's squad features eight players who lettered for the Waves last year and six newcomers. Of the six newcomers, four are freshmen (Malia Bambrick, Jayda and Jayla Ruffus-Milner, Skye Lindsay) and two are junior college transfers (Deezha Battle and Ashleen Quirke). Of the returners, the Waves have three seniors (Yasmine Robinson-Bacote, Keyari Sleezer and Paige Fecske), one junior (Barbara Sitanggan), one redshirt junior (Megan House) and three sophomores (Mia Satie, Monique Andriuolo and Rose Pflug).
 
AT THE HELM: Pepperdine promoted DeLisha Milton-Jones to head coach during the offseason last year and she is entering her second year at the head of the program. The former collegiate and WNBA great served as an assistant with the Waves prior to taking over the head coach position, and brings a wealth of experience from the collegiate, professional and international levels of basketball. Second all-time in WNBA history for games played, Milton-Jones was a two-time WNBA All-Star and won back-to-back titles with the Los Angeles Sparks. On the Olympic stage, Milton-Jones has won two Olympic gold medals (2000 and 2008) and a pair of FIBA World Championships (1998 and 2002) with Team USA. As a collegiate standout at Florida, Milton-Jones was the National and SEC Player of the Year in 1997. She also spent 16 seasons playing professional basketball abroad in a number of different countries around the world.
 
THE STAFF: Head Coach DeLisha Milton-Jones rounded out her coaching staff this year by bringing in two new faces along with returning assistant coach Josh Pace.
 
Pace is in his fourth season with the Waves after coming to Malibu following a 10-year playing career both in the U.S. and abroad. Pace also won an NCAA title under Jim Boeheim at Syracuse in 2003.
 
Milton-Jones first hired Shelley Wong, who comes to Pepperdine after years in the high school and AAU coaching realms. She headed the Segerstorm High School basketball team, and led them to the second round of the CIF Playoffs. She also has experience in individual coaching, working with CoachUp, a private basketball training service.
 
Matthew Parke was hired just before the season started as the final member of the coaching staff. Parke was previously the head coach at Averett University, a Division III school in Danville, Va., and the associate head coach at Guilford University in Greensboro, N.C.
 
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 18 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 #46 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.