MALIBU, Calif. –The Pepperdine women's basketball team has its final two regular season games of the year this week, as the team heads to Spokane, Wash. to take on #16 Gonzaga on Thursday, and to Portland, Ore. to take on Portland on Saturday.
GAME #28: Thursday (Feb. 28) at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash.: Pepperdine (19-8, 12-4 WCC) vs. #16 Gonzaga (25-3, 14-2 WCC) at 6:00 pm PT.
GAME #29: Saturday (March 2) at Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.: Pepperdine vs. Portland (12-15, 4-12 WCC) at 4:30 pm PT.
LAST TIME OUT: Last week, the Waves had their final two home games of the year against Pacific and Saint Mary's. In the game against Pacific, the Waves dominated in all facets fo the game, defeating the Tigers 96-76.
On Saturday against Saint Mary's, the Waves' three seniors, Megan House, yasmine Robinson-Bacote and Keyari Sleezer were honored before their final regular-season game in Firestone Fieldhouse. The game itself was very closely fought, with the Waves ending up on top for their eighth-straight victory, 77-72 over the Gaels.
YEAR IN REVIEW:This season has been Pepperdine women's basketbal's best season in a long time for multiple reasons. With the win against Cal State Los Angeles, the Waves clinched their first winning season since 2011-2012. With at least 19 wins, it is the best season since the 2010-2011 season when the Waves won 18 games. The Waves also locked in at least a #3 seed in the West Coast Conference Tournament with last Saturday's win over Saint Mary's.
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 program-record 47 points against Sacramento State. She is 4th all-time in Pepperdine women's basketball history with 1,616 career points and 4th all time in scoring average, scoring 14.8 points a game over her career. She has also scored at least ten points in every game so far this season, and has 14 with at least 20 points. She also leads all players in the West Coast Conference in scoring, with 20.3 points per game, and a total of 507 points on the year. She is also fifth on the rankings in rebounding, with 195 rebounds on the year. Last year, Robinson-Bacote was named to the All-WCC First Team for the third year in a row, and was named to the Preseason All-WCC team prior to this year. She 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.
WCC RANKINGS: Barbara Sitanggan leads the WCC in Assists, with 126 and 5.0 assists per game. She is also second in the WCC in free-throw percentage, shooting .860 from the stripe. Rose Pflug is third in the WCC in 3FG %, shooting .422 from beyond the arc. Deezha Battle is in seventh, shooting .391. Megan House is one of best shot blockers in the WCC, averaging over a block a game.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Waves are nearly unstoppable at home this year, with a record of 10-1 in Firestone Fieldhouse. Six of those home wins are against WCC opponents, and their lone loss is to WCC-leading Gonzaga.
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.
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.
MAKING WAVES IN THE CLASSROOM: The Waves were very strong academically this year, as Rose Pflug was the only athlete in the WCC to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District Team honors, as she was named to the second tean. Pflug was also named to the WCC All-Academic team earning honorable mention along with Megan House and Keyari Sleezer.
SERIES VS. GONZAGA: The Bulldogs won the game earlier in the year in Malibu, giving them five straight wins. The Waves last beat Gonzaga.
SERIES VS. PORTLAND: Pepperdine beat the Pilots in the first WCC matchup of the year. The Waves have also won two of the last three meetings.
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 12,750.76 miles traveled on the year.
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.
