MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's basketball team aims to end its season-opening three-game home stand on a high note as it hosts Division III Caltech in Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Caltech is Pepperdine's first of two non-Division I opponents in the regular season. This is the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
So far, 11 of Pepperdine's 14 players have seen the floor this year, while several have established themselves as key contributors to Pepperdine's rotation. Saturday will be an opportunity for the Waves to tool with their lineups and get acclimated with each other before it takes a three-game road trip to Mountain West Conference opponents, starting next Wednesday.
GAME #3: Pepperdine vs. Caltech | Saturday, Nov. 11 | Firestone Fieldhouse | Malibu, Calif. | ESPN+ | 6 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
The Waves are coming off a 57-48 loss to New Mexico on Thursday, in which a slow first quarter and late turnovers in the fourth quarter dashed Pepperdine's second comeback attempt in as many games.
After flirting with a double-double in the Biola exhibition and the season-opener against UC Irvine, senior Jane Nwaba led the Waves in the loss with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high six assists against New Mexico. Her timely buckets to end the third quarter sparked the Waves as they pulled within two points of the Lobos, who won 21 games and made the WNIT a year ago.
Graduate transfer Myra Gordon is Pepperdine's leading scorer at 14.0 points per game. She has finished in double-figures in both games, while recording single-game career-highs in points (17 vs. UCI), assists (5 vs. UCI) and steals (5 vs. UCI).
The aforementioned Nwaba has been an effective scorer (12.0 points per game) while leading the team with 11 rebounds per game — good for third in the West Coast Conference so far. Starting at point guard in both games, Addi Melone averages nine points, three assists and six rebounds per game. She is Pepperdine's third leading-scorer.
Pepperdine also got a boost from transfer forwards Megan Harkey (season-high six points in 10 minutes) and Maggie Vick (six rebounds) against the Lobos. Along with KK Brodie (5.5 points per game), the Waves have shown a semblance of frontcourt depth in the early goings.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Entering their second season under head coach Annie Tarakchian, the Beavers return two of their top three scorers from a year ago: First-Team All-SCIAC selection and leading scorer Katheryn Edwards (16.7 points, 8.0 rebounds per game) and Kodie Vondra, a Livingston, Mont. native who averaged 11.3 points per game last year.
Tarakchian, a Princeton star who helped the Tigers go 31-1 in 2014-15, helped lead Caltech to an 8-17 record in her first season a year ago.
The Beavers played in a scrimmage against NAIA institution Westcliff and fell 61-39 in an exhibition game against Life Pacific, also of the NAIA. In that exhibition, Edwards had a 12-point, 15-rebound double-double, while Saumya Chauhan chipped in 11 points and five boards.
UP NEXT: Pepperdine will take its longest road trip of the season: a three-game Mountain West Conference swing, starting next Wednesday at Fresno State at 5 p.m. They will then travel to Nevada on Friday, followed by a Monday night game against the Boise State Broncos on Nov. 20.
