MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team will play the last non-conference road game at Cal State Fullerton before heading back to Malibu for a four-game home stand to close out the non-conference schedule.
GAME #6: Monday (Nov. 28) at Titan Gym in Fullerton, Calif.: Pepperdine (2-3) at Cal State Fullerton (2-2) at 7 PM
COVERAGE: Links to live stats and broadcasts will be available on the women's basketball schedule page on PepperdineWaves.com. Fans can also follow @WavesHoops on Twitter for live, in-game updates.
SERIES VS. CAL STATE FULLERTON: Pepperdine has a 14-10 advantage all-time against Cal State Fullerton, though when the Waves and Titans faced off last season in Firestone Fieldhouse, the Titans earned a 68-63 victory.
LAST GAME: The Waves hosted Concordia for the home opener and defeated the Golden Eagles 71-52.
Marly Walls led the way with 17 points and brought down six rebounds, while also having dished out a team-high seven assists.
Theresa Grace Mbanefo collected 15 points and six boards.
Jane Nwaba tallied 13 points and nine rebounds.
Meaali'i Amosa had a double-double with a career-high 14 rebounds and put up 10 points.
Helena Friend nabbed a career-high six rebounds, while
Rosemary Odebumni and
KK Brodie each had career highs as well in rebounds with four and five, respectively.
RETURNERS: The Waves return four out of the starting five from last season.
Ally Stedman led the squad last season in scoring at 11.0 points per game and had 31 steals, which was good for first on the team. She was named to the 2021-22 WCC All-Freshman team.
Redshirt senior forward
Becky Obinma is also back for the Waves after leading the squad in rebounds with 6.3 per game. Obinma also led the squad in blocks with 40 (1.7 per game), which finished out the year third in the WCC. She also ranked ninth on the Pepperdine single-season list for blocks per game. Obinma had 28 blocks (2.2 per game) during WCC play which ranked tied for sixth in the WCC and fifth on Pepperdine's single-season charts.
Meaali'i Amosa also returns to Malibu, after moving into a starting role as a freshman. She led the Waves in field goal percentage (.490) and averaged 5.6 points per game. Amosa was the second-leading rebounder, averaging 6.2 per game and also had 12 blocked shots.
Kendyl Carson led Pepperdine in assists at 3.8 per game, while averaging 26.5 minutes per game and 4.8 points per game.
THE SQUAD: The Waves bring back eight returners and add six newcomers to the team. The returners include a redshirt senior (Obinma), two juniors (Carson and
Jane Nwaba), a redshirt junior (
Isabel Montoya), three sophomores (Amosa,
Helena Friend and Stedman) and redshirt sophomore (
Rosemary Odebumni)
. New to Malibu are graduate student transfers
Theresa Grace Mbanefo and
Marly Walls, and four true freshmen in
KK Brodie,
Drea Brumfield,
Hailey Hoff and
Hailey Johnson.
LAST YEAR: In her fourth year, Dowling led the Waves to a 8-17 overall record, including a 4-11 WCC record. The Waves fell in the opening round of the West Coast Conference Tournament 65-54 to Loyola Marymount.
AT THE HELM: Kristen Dowling is in her fourth season as Pepperdine's head women's basketball coach. During her first three seasons with the Waves, she had a record of 29-50. 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.
THE STAFF: The Waves welcomed two new members and returned two on the coaching staff for the 2022-23 season.
Brian Rosario is in his fourth season with the Waves. He has experience in the West Coast Conference, as he graduated from the University of San Diego in 1999, where he was a male practice player for the women's basketball team. He also coached at PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount from 2012-17 before becoming the head coach at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Arizona.
Kayla Reeves returns this season in a new role as an assistant coach. Reeves was the director of operations last season and was promoted this summer to assistant coach. She also has some West Coast Conference experience with Gonzaga, as she was the graduate assistant for the Bulldogs for two seasons.
Joial Griffith was the head coach at Whitworth University, an NCAA Division III school located in Spokane, Wash., where she led the Pirates for four seasons. She became the head coach in 2018-19 and guided the Pirates to a 41-42 record and two fourth-place finishes in the Northwest Conference.
Jasmine Hotchkins, the new director of operations, was the director of operations at West Coast Conference foe Portland. She spent one season with the Pilots, and prior to her stint in the Pacific Northwest she was an assistant coach for Phoenix Fire Prep, an AAU squad based in Arizona.
WCC PRESEASON TEAM/RANKINGS: The Waves were picked to finish 10th in the 2022-23 season. The entire poll is as follows: 1. Gonzaga, 2. Portland, 3. BYU, 4. San Francisco, 5. Saint Mary's, 6. San Diego, 7. Loyola Marymount, 8. Santa Clara, 9. Pacific, 10.
Pepperdine.
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 20 schools to have accomplished this feat — and 10 overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 26 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also 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 2021-22). Located in scenic Malibu, California, 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 #55 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
