MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team is traveling back to Northern California to match up against Pacific and Saint Mary's.
 
GAME #15: Thursday (Jan. 5) at Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif.: Pepperdine (6-8, 1-3) at Pacific (5-9, 0-3) at 6 PM.
 
GAME #16: Saturday (Jan. 7) at University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, Calif.: Pepperdine (6-8, 1-3) at Saint Mary's (7-7, 1-2) at 1 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. PACIFIC: Pepperdine holds the overall series lead 9-15 with Pacific. Last season, the Waves and Tigers each collected a victory on home turf.
 
SERIES VS. SAINT MARY'S: The Gaels have the overall series advantage 36-44 over the Waves. Last season, Pepperdine defeated Saint Mary's 70-65 in overtime inside Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
LAST WEEK: After the holiday, the Waves hosted #20 Gonzaga and Portland. On Thursday, Dec. 29, Pepperdine dropped 77-63 to the Zags. Ally Stedman led the way with 16 points, collected four rebounds, an assist and a steal. On Saturday, Dec. 31, the Waves and Pilots battled it out, but Pepperdine was unable to hold on and dropped 86-76. Theresa Grace Mbanefo and Marly Walls each put up 20 points. Mbanefo had three assists and brought down five rebounds. Walls dished out six assists and had six rebounds.
 
THIS YEAR: Pepperdine ranks second on the WCC leaderboard in rebounds per game (39.6).
 
The Waves have been led by sophomore Ally Stedman who averages 16.2 points per game, ranking her fifth in scoring on the WCC leaderboard. Stedman also leads the WCC in steals per game (2.0).
 
Theresa Grace Mbanefo is the second-leading scorer on the squad averaging 13.5 points per game, which is good for 13th in the WCC. Mbanefo ranks fourth in the WCC in shooting percentage at 55.2%. She also ranks tied for 10th in rebounds per game (6.1) and 11th in blocks per game (0.8).
 
Marly Walls leads Pepperdine in assists and ranks fourth in the WCC averaging 4.6 per game. She averages 1.6 steals per game which is tied for fourth in the WCC. Walls is averaging 11.4 points per game. 
 
Meaali'i Amosa leads the Waves in rebounds with 6.3 and ranks eighth on the WCC leaderboard. Amosa averages 5.1 per game.
 
Becky Obinma is one of the top three rebounders for the squad and averages 5.8 per game which ranks 13th on the WCC leaderboard.
 
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.