MALIBU, Calif. – After a week-long break, the Pepperdine women's basketball team will be back in action as PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount comes to town.
GAME #19: Saturday (Jan. 21) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (6-12, 1-7) vs. LMU (5-14, 2-6) at 2 PM.
COVERAGE: The game will be broadcast live on the WCC Network with Darren Preston on the call. 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.
TICKETS: Patrons must have an e-ticket prior to arriving on campus. Pepperdine students, staff and faculty just need their Pepperdine ID card for entry. Tickets can be found at pepperdinewaves.com/tickets.
PCH CUP: An annual all-sport competition between two local rivals that are separated by just 19.1 miles of scenic coastline, the PCH Cup is in its 14th season of existence. Pepperdine has won 11 of the 13 years that this competition has been held.
SERIES VS. LMU: The Waves hold the overall series lead 59-32. Last season, Pepperdine collected both conference wins, but LMU defeated the Waves in the first round of the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.
LAST TIME OUT: On Saturday, Jan. 14, Pepperdine hosted BYU and fell 63-52 after a hard-fought battle in Firestone Fieldhouse. The Waves and Cougars were neck and neck in the first quarter at 14-12, but BYU took over in the second quarter and never let up. Pepperdine did have three players in double-digits for the second straight game.
Jane Nwaba led the squad tying her career-high with 15 points by shooting 6-for-12.
Helena Friend also tied her career-high in points with 12.
Meaali'i Amosa drained 10 points.
Marly Walls led the Waves in rebounding with eight boards.
THIS YEAR: Pepperdine ranks top-five in three categories on the WCC leaderboard. The Waves are tied for first in blocks per game (3.4), second in rebounds per game (39.1), and fifth in shooting percentage (41.7).
The Waves have been led by sophomore
Ally Stedman who averages 15.4 points per game, ranking her seventh in scoring on the WCC leaderboard. Stedman also leads the WCC in steals per game (1.9).
Theresa Grace Mbanefo is the second-leading scorer on the squad averaging 13.5 points per game, which is good for 11th in the WCC. Mbanefo ranks fourth in the WCC in shooting percentage at 55.2%. She also ranks 10th in rebounds per game (6.1) and 11th in blocks per game (0.8).
Marly Walls leads Pepperdine in assists and ranks fifth in the WCC averaging 4.4 per game. She averages 1.6 steals per game which is seventh in the WCC. Walls is averaging 11.2 points per game, ranking her 18th in the WCC.
Becky Obinma leads the Waves in rebounds with 6.4 and ranks seventh on the WCC leaderboard. Obinma averages 5.1 points per game.
Meaali'i Amosa is one of three top rebounders for the squad, averaging 5.8 per game which ranks 14th on the WCC leaderboard
KK Brodie leads Pepperdine in blocks with 15, which is tied for seventh in the WCC. She averages 0.8 blocks per game, ranking her tied for sixth in the conference.
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, thåe 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 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.
