Waves Head to L.A. for PCH Cup Showdown

Saturday, February 15

Los Angeles, Calif.

2:00 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

Loyola Marymount

Hannah Friend

Photo by: Sarah Otteman

2/13/2020 4:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

By: by Athletic Communications

MALIBU, Calif. –The Pepperdine women's basketball team looks to extend its four-game win streak this week, traveling to PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount for a West Coast Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon.

GAME #24: Saturday (February 15) at the Gersten Pavillion in Los Angeles, Calif.: Pepperdine (13-10, 7-6 WCC) vs. Loyola Marymount (7-19, 3-10 WCC) at 2 p.m.

COVERAGE: The game against LMU 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. LOYOLA MARYMOUNT: The Waves have a 55-27 advantage over the rival Lions. The Lions came out on top in the first matchup this year, defeating the Waves 84-77 in Firestone Fieldhouse.

PCH CUP: An annual all-sport competition between two loval rivals that are separated by just 19.1 miles of scenic coastline, the PCH Cup is in its 11th season of existence. Pepperdine has won eight of the 10 years that this competition has been held. A home win is worth one point, a road victory is worth 1.5 points. Pepperdine leads this season, 9.0-3.5.

LAST TIME OUT: Last week, the Waves got their first two road WCC victories. On Thursday, the Waves defeated San Francisco, 70-64. Hannah Friend had 18 points and Malia Bambrick had 17.

On Saturday, Barbara Sitanggan re-wrote the record books, dishing out her 453rd career assist in the second quarter, setting a new Pepperdine record. She had 16 points as well, and Friend had a game-leading 24 in the 79-61 win over Santa Clara.

RECORD CHASING: Barbara Sitanggan became the Pepperdine women's basketball all time leader in assists on Saturday, Feb. 8 when she dished out her 453rd career assist against Santa Clara in the second quarter. She added three more during the game and currently sits at 456 career assists. Sitanggan is also eighth all-time in free throws made with 358 ... Paige Fecske became the program's 24th member of the 1,000 point club on Jan. 23 at Gonzaga. She hit a three-pointer in the corner to reach the 1,000 point mark. She also has made 157 3-pointers in her career, fourth all-time at Pepperdine.

WCC LEADERS: Five Waves are in the top-30 in the conference in scoring: Hannah Friend (10.3 ppg, 25th), Barbara Sitanggan (10.0 ppg, 26th), Paige Fecske (9.8 ppg, 27th), Malia Bambrick (9.5 ppg, 28th) and Monique Andriuolo (9.4 ppg, 30th).

Monique Andriuolo is ninth in the conference in rebounding, bringing 7.0 boards down per game. She also has 34 blocked shots, good for second in the WCC.

Barbara Sitanggan is currently fourth in the conference in assists with 97, fifth in steals with 50, and fifth in free throw percentage at 84.3%. She also leads the conference in assist/turnover radio, netting 3.2 assists per turnover. Her assist/turnover ratio is also third in the nation.

WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Monique Andriuolo became the first Wave to earn WCC Player of the Week honors this year on Feb. 3. Her performances against Pacific and Saint Mary's netted her 18.5 points per game and 13.5 rebounds per game. She had 30 points and 17 rebounds against Saint Mary's. It is the first career honor for the junior from Melbourne, Australia.

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.

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 major 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.