MALIBU, Calif. –The Pepperdine women's basketball team plays its final two home games this week, hosting Portland on Thursday and #13 Gonzaga on Saturday. Saturday will aslo be Senior Day, when the Waves will honor the six seniors in their final regular-season game in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
GAME #25: Thursday (February 20) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (14-10, 8-6 WCC) vs. Portland (16-10, 9-6 WCC) at 7 p.m.
 
GAME #26: Saturday (February 22) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine vs. #13 Gonzaga (25-2, 14-1 WCC) at 2 p.m.
 
COVERAGE: Both games 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.
 
SENIOR DAY: Before Saturday's game against #13 Gonzaga, Pepperdine will honor its six seniors in their final regular-season game in Firestone Fieldhouse: Deezha Battle, Tara Dusharm, Paige Fecske, Hannah Friend, Ashleen Quirke and Barbara Sitanggan. Sitanggan will also be honored for breaking the all-time assists record at Pepperdine.
 
SERIES VS. PORTLAND: The Waves have a 38-31 advantage over the Pilots all-time. The Pilots won the first meeting of the year in a hard-fought battle, defeating the Waves 69-67.
 
SERIES VS. GONZAGA: The Bulldogs hold a 43-30 all-time advantage over the Waves, and have won the past seven meetings, including earlier this year, when the Bulldogs won 70-34. The last time the Waves won was in the 2016-17 season, when the Waves defeated the Bulldogs 79-69 in Malibu.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Last week, the Waves defeated cross-town rival Loyola Marymount 77-66 in a PCH Cup showdown. Malia Bambrick had 21 points, making five three-pointers in the process.
 
RECORD CHASING: Barbara Sitanggan became the Pepperdine women's basketball all-time leader in assists on 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 466 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 158 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 (10.6 ppg, 22nd), Malia Bambrick (10.0 ppg, 25th), Barbara Sitanggan (9.9 ppg, 26th), Paige Fecske (9.8 ppg, 27th), and Monique Andriuolo (9.3 ppg, 30th).
 
Monique Andriuolo is eighth in the conference in rebounding, bringing 6.8 boards down per game. She also has 35 blocked shots, good for second in the WCC.
 
Barbara Sitanggan is currently third in the conference in assists with 107, fourth in steals with 56, and fourth in free throw percentage at 82.4%. She also leads the conference in assist/turnover radio, netting 3.6 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.
 
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.