Waves Host UC Davis on Thursday

Thursday, December 19

Malibu, Calif.

2:00 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

UC Davis

Buy Tickets

Malia Bambrick

Photo by: Sarah Otteman

12/17/2019 3:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

By: by Athletic Communications

MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team hosts UC Davis in Malibu on Sunday in a non-conference matchup.

GAME #9: Thursday (December 19) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (5-3) vs. UC Davis (4-6) at 2 p.m.

COVERAGE: Sunday's game will be live broadcast through the WCC Network, with links to live stats and broadcasts available on the women's basketball schedule page at PepperdineWaves.com. Fans can also follow @WavesHoops on Twitter for live, in-game updates.

SERIES VS. UNLV: The Waves hold the all-time advantage over the Aggies 3-2, but the Aggies have won two of three in the 2010's. The last time the two teams met was in the 2017-18 season. The Aggies defeated the Waves 69-64 in Davis.

LAST TIME OUT: The Waves hosted UNLV on Dec. 8, falling to the Lady Rebels 69-44. Monique Andriuolo was the only Wave in double figures, scoring 12.

RECORD CHASING: Barbara Sitanggan is steadily climbing her way to the top of the all-time Pepperdine assists record. She currently sits in fifth with 383 assists, 35 behind Stephanie Menezie in fourth and 69 behind the all-time mark. Sitanggan is also 8th all-time in free throws made with 293 ... Paige Fecske is looking to become the program's 24th member of the 1,000 point club, sitting at 891 points thus far. She also has made 139 3-pointers in her career, good for sixth all-time at Pepperdine.

WCC LEADERS: Paige Fecske is near the top of the West Coast Conference in a few offensive categories. She is eighth in the conference in scoring, putting up 13.7 points per game. She is also second in the conference in free throw percentage, making 93.3 percent of her foul shots.

Monique Andriuolo is also at the top of the conference thus far. She is tied for 19th in the conference in rebounding, bringing 5.4 boards down per game. She is also ninth in the WCC in shooting percentage, as she is making 51.9 percent of her shots.

LAST YEAR: Last year was Pepperdine women's basketball's best season in a long time. The Waves posted their first winning season since 2012. Pepperdine had its best WCC finish (third) and WCC seeding (third) since 2011. The Waves also won 20 games for the first time since 2010, the 12th such season in program history. The Waves lost one of the all-time great women's basketball players in Yasmine Robinson-Bacote, who graduated as the fourth-leading scorer in Pepperdine history with 1,772 points as well as having the fourth highest scoring average, scoring 15.3 points per game.

RETURNERS: The Waves bring back the West Coast Conference's assist leader from last year in senior Barbara Sitanggan. Sitanggan had 176 assists last year, compared to just 46 turnovers, which was good for the third best assist-turnover ratio in the nation. She also scored 11.1 points per game, good for second on the team.

Also returning for the Waves is redshirt-senior Paige Fecske. Fecske was named an All-WCC honorable mention as a junior in 2018 and had a promising start last year, scoring 9.5 points per game in five games before suffering a season-ending injury.

Pepperdine also brings back senior Deezha Battle, who scored 8.5 points per game last year, mainly coming off the bench. She led the team with 47 made three-pointers, making just under 37% of her shots from beyond the arc. Battle was second on the team in assists, dishing out 68.

Malia Bambrick returns for her sophomore season as a Wave coming off a WCC All-Freshman team designation last year. She scored 8.0 points per game and brought down 109 rebounds in 2018-19.

THE ROSTER: The Waves return a total of eight players from last year's squad: three seniors (Deezha Battle, Barbara Sitanggan, Paige Fecske), two juniors (Monique Andriuolo, Mia Satie) and three sophomores (Malia Bambrick, Jayda Ruffus-Milner, Jayla Ruffus-Milner). Joining the team this year are freshman Destiny McAllister, sophomore transfer Cheyenne Givens, and graduate transfers Danijela Milisic, Hannah Friend and Tara Dusharm.

PRESEASON RANKINGS: The Waves were picked to tie for sixth with Loyola Marymount in the annual WCC preseason poll. The entire poll is as follows: 1. Gonzaga, 2. BYU, 3. Pacific, 4. Saint Mary's, 5. Santa Clara, T6. Pepperdine, T6. Loyola Marymount, 8 San Diego, 9. San Francisco, 10. Portland.

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 #50 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.