MALIBU, Calif. – For the seventh time in Pepperdine women's basketball history, the Waves have earned a berth into the Women's National Invitation Tournament. The Waves will take on California Baptist in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday, with tip-off at 5 p.m.
 
GAME #32: Wednesday (March 20) at the CBU Events Center in Riverside, Calif.: Pepperdine (20-11, 12-6 WCC) vs. California Baptist (18-11, 11-5 WAC) at 5 p.m. in the WNIT First Round.
 
IF PEPPERDINE WINS — GAME #33: If the Waves win, the next round will be against the winner of the game between Saint Mary's and Hawaii. The site and date for that game is still to be determined.
 
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
 
YEAR IN REVIEW: This has been Pepperdine women's basketball's best season in a long time. The Waves have posted their first winning season since 2012. Pepperdine had its best WCC finish (third) and WCC seeding (third) since 2011. The Waves have won 20 games for the first time since 2010. Another victory would give the Waves their best win total since 2003. This is the 12th 20-win season in program history.
 
SERIES VS. CBU: The Waves and Lancers have only faced off twice in their history in women's basketball. Pepperdine won both meetings, including a 112-44 win in 1993.
 
WNIT HISTORY: Pepperdine will be playing in its seventh WNIT. In previous tournaments, the Waves have a 0-9 record. The last time the Waves played in the tournament, they traveled to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State in 2011. The Cowgirls defeated the Waves 81-74.
 
POSTSEASON HONORS: Yasmine Robinson-Bacote made Pepperdine history by becoming just the third Wave ever to take home WCC Player of the Year honors. The senior from Hillside, N.J., led the conference in scoring in league games only, putting up 20.4 points per conference game, and was sixth in the conference in rebounding, pulling down 7.6 rebounds per game. Barbara Sitanggan was named All-WCC honorable mention, and Malia Bambrick was named to the WCC All-Freshmen team.
 
ROBINSON-BACOTE: Yasmine Robinson-Bacote, a three-time All-WCC first team selection, is fourth all-time in Pepperdine women's basketball history in scoring at both 1,684 total points and a 14.9 points per game average. En route to a WCC-best scoring average of 20.1 points per game (more than three points better than any other player) — and 24th nationally — she has scored at least 10 points in every game so far this season, and has 15 games with at least 20 points. Her 624 points this season rank fifth in Pepperdine single-season history. She's fourth all-time in career free throws made (387).
 
After scoring a program-record 47 points against Sacramento State, she was named WCC Player of the Week on November 26. She got the award again on February 25 after averaging 27.5 points in home wins over Pacific and Saint Mary's.
 
Robinson-Bacote also ranks sixth in the league in rebounding (7.7), and is ninth in blocked shots (0.7). She's grabbed 765 rebounds in her career, eighth all-time at Pepperdine.
 
Last year, Robinson-Bacote was named to the All-WCC first team for the second year in a row, becoming the first Wave to do so in consecutive seasons since 2012. She's the first to do it three times since 2010.
 
MORE PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS: Barbara Sitanggan ranks third nationally, and first in the WCC, in assist-turnover ratio (3.86). She also leads the WCC in assists at 5.2 per game. Additionally, she's second in free throw percentage (86.4%), seventh in steals (1.8), 14th in rebounding (5.9) and 19th in scoring (11.4).
 
Sitanggan may set the school record for free throws in a season. She's got 152 and the record is 154 (Maureen Formico, 1985-86). She's sixth on Pepperdine's single-season assists list with 162, and eighth on the career assist list with 345.
 
Rose Pflug (40.4%) and Deezha Battle (37.9%) rank fifth and seventh, respectively, in WCC three-point shooting. Megan House is third in the conference in blocked shots (1.2). She has 103 career blocks, seventh all-time at Pepperdine.
 
TURNOVERS: Pepperdine ranks 8th nationally by committing just 11.9 turnovers per game.
 
MAKING WAVES IN THE CLASSROOM: The Waves were very strong academically this year. Rose Pflug was the only student-athlete in the WCC to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, as she was named to the second team. Pflug was also named WCC All-Academic, earning honorable mention along with Megan House and Keyari Sleezer.
 
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 redshirt junior (Megan House), one junior (Barbara Sitanggan), 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.
 
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.