MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine women's basketball team heads to the Pacific Northwest in order to visit Portland State for the last non-conference road game.
GAME #8: Friday (Dec. 10) at Viking Pavilion in Portland, Ore.: Pepperdine (3-4) vs. Portland State (3-4) at 6 p.m.
COVERAGE: The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Links to the broadcast as well as live stats are available on the women's basketball schedule page on PepperdineWaves.com. Fans can also follow @WavesHoops on Twitter for live, in-game updates.
LAST GAME: Last Thursday, Pepperdine dropped an afternoon contest to California Baptist, 63-57, in the CBU Events Center. The Waves were led by Becky Obinma who notched 12 points, brought down seven rebounds and had a career-high five blocks. Jayla Ruffus-Milner had her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Ally Stedman also banked 11 points against the Lancers.
SERIES VS. PORTLAND STATE: Pepperdine has the advantage over Portland State as the Waves have not lost a game to the Vikings in the four games they've met. The last meeting was in the 2003-04 season, when Pepperdine defeated Portland State 67-50 inside Firestone Fieldhouse.
HONORS: Ally Stedman marked the season's first West Coast Conference weekly honors for the Pepperdine women's basketball team, was named WCC Freshman of the Week (11/15). She scored 36 points in two games against #20 UCLA and Eastern Washington, of which 28 points were against the Bruins.
THIS YEAR: The Waves are led by freshman Ally Stedman who averages 12.3 points per game, which ranks her 13th in scoring on the WCC leaderboard. In addition, Stedman has banked 11 three-pointers, which ties her with teammate Malia Bambrick for 11th on the WCC three-point list.
Bambrick is the second-leading scorer on the team at 10.9 points per game and shooting 45.8% from three, good for first on the team. She also is in sole possession for sixth on the Pepperdine all-time three point record list with 143 made. Bambrick was also named All-WCC honorable mention last season.
Eve Braslis is averaging 10.1 points per game and is shooting 55.4%, good for first on the team. She has brought down 5.6 rebounds per game, which ranks 11th on the WCC leaderboard.
Becky Obinma is averaging 8.9 points per game and leads the Waves in rebounds at 7.4 per game, which puts her third on the WCC leaderboard. She has blocked eight shots this season, which puts her fourth in the WCC.
Kendyl Carson leads the Waves in assists at 4.6 per game and also marked her name, fourth, in the WCC.
THE SQUAD: The Waves bring back 11 returners and add three newcomers to the team. The returners include two seniors (Bambrick and Givens), five redshirt juniors (Cydney Rivera, Jayda Ruffus-Milner, Jayla Ruffus-Milner, Becky Obinma and Eve Braslis), three sophomores (Isabel Montoya, Jane Nwaba and Kendyl Carson) and redshirt freshman Rosemary Odebunmi. New to Malibu are freshmen Meaali'i Amosa, Helena Friend and Ally Stedman.
LAST YEAR: In her third year, Kristen Dowling led the Waves to a 5-18 overall record, including a 2-16 WCC record. Pepperdine fell in the opening round of the West Coast Conference Tournament 85-73 to Loyola Marymount.
AT THE HELM: Kristen Dowling enters her third season as Pepperdine's head women's basketball coach. During her first two seasons with the Waves, she has a record of 21-33. Last season, the team had a 5-18 overall record, including a 2-16 WCC record. Her first year at the helm, she led the team to a 16-15 overall record, including an 8-10 WCC record. The team reached the semifinals of the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas before falling to San Diego. Prior to Pepperdine, Dowling was the leader of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' program for seven years. She led the Athenas to six straight SCIAC regular-season championships as well four SCIAC Tournament championships and four NCAA Division III Tournaments. Along the way, the team had six straight 20-win seasons including five seasons with at least 23 wins.
WCC PRESEASON TEAM/RANKINGS: The Waves were picked to finish ninth in the 2021-22 season. The entire poll is as follows: 1. Gonzaga, 2. BYU, 3. San Diego, 4. San Francisco, 5. Portland, 6. Santa Clara, 7. Saint Mary's, 8. Loyola Marymount, 9. Pepperdine, 10. Pacific.
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 10 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 #49 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
