MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine women's basketball team is headed back to Northern California in order to visit Pacific for a Saturday afternoon WCC matchup. The Waves return to the court again after two more games were postponed.
GAME #12: Saturday (Jan. 22) at Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif.: Pepperdine (4-7, 0-2) at Pacific (3-10, 0-2) at 2 p.m.
COVERAGE: The game will be broadcast live on the WCC Network. 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 Saturday, Pepperdine dropped a road afternoon contest to Saint Mary's, 70-53. The Waves were led by
Ally Stedman who banked 17 points by shooting 7-for-15. Stedman also recorded a career-high six steals.
Kendyl Carson was the second-leading scorer on the team with a season-high 10 points. She also had a career-high four steals.
SERIES VS. PACIFIC: The Tigers have won 14 of the 22 matchups between the two schools. The Waves have won three of the last seven with the last win during the 2019-20 season 59-54, but dropped the two games last season.
HONORS: Ally Stedman marked the season's first West Coast Conference weekly honors for the Pepperdine women's basketball team when she 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 continue to be led by freshman
Ally Stedman who averages 11.8 points per game, which ranks her 15th in scoring on the WCC leaderboard. She's 13th in the WCC for three-pointers made with 17.
Malia Bambrick is the second-leading scorer on the team at 9.6 points per game. She is also in sole possession of fifth on the Pepperdine all-time three-point record list with 147 made. Bambrick was named All-WCC honorable mention last season.
Eve Braslis is averaging 9.0 points per game. She has brought down 5.1 rebounds per game, which puts her 18th on the WCC leaderboard and also second on the team.
Becky Obinma is averaging 8.6 points per game and leads the Waves in rebounds at 7.0 per game and is sixth in the WCC. She has blocked 12 shots this season, which ranks her third in the WCC.
Jayla Ruffus-Milner is leading the team in shooting percentage at 50% shooting 17-for-34. She is averaging 5.2 rebounds per game, which is good for 16th in the WCC.
Kendyl Carson leads the Waves in assists at 4.3 per game, marking her name third in the WCC.
Cheyenne Givens ranks second on the team in assists with 3.0 per game, which also puts her at 14th on the WCC leaderboard.
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. 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 2020 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.
COVID POSTPONEMENTS: The Waves have had five games thus far postponed due to COVID-19 regulations. Pepperdine was supposed to open up West Coast Conference play on Dec. 30 hosting Pacific, but due to COVID-19 considerations on the Tigers' end, the game has been moved to Feb. 15. The Waves also were intended to play host to Saint Mary's on Jan. 1, but due to COVID-19 considerations with the Waves, the game has been moved to Jan 31. Additionally, Pepperdine was supposed to travel to play San Diego on Jan. 6, but due to COVID-19 regulations, the game has been postponed. The Waves intended to host Loyola Marymount on Jan. 8, but the game has been postponed to Tuesday, Jan. 18 and also postponed again to Tuesday, Jan. 25. Pepperdine was scheduled to host BYU on Thursday Jan. 20, but due to COVID-19 considerations with the Waves, the game has been postponed.
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.
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