MALIBU, Calif. — Embarking on its longest road trip of the season, the Pepperdine women's basketball team heads to Fresno State on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. game in the Save Mart Center.
Over the next eight days, the Waves (2-1) are taking a Mountain West Road trip, of sorts. Pepperdine will head to Reno to play Nevada on Friday, then they wrap up the trip with a game at Boise State next Monday, Nov. 20.
GAME #4: Pepperdine at Fresno State | Wednesday, Nov. 15 | Save Mart Center | Fresno, Calif. | Mountain West Network | 5 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
The Waves are coming off a season-opening, three-game home stand, in which they went 2-1 with wins over UC Irvine and Caltech. Pepperdine's last game — a 79-42 win over Caltech on Nov. 11 — saw all 12 available Waves score, in part due to Pepperdine's season-high 23 assists that led to 32 made field goals.
Over the first week of the season, graduate student Myra Gordon has led the Waves with 12.3 points per game, which ranks 12th in the West Coast Conference. She has finished in double-figures in both games against Division I opponents, plus she has recorded career-highs in scoring (17 points), assists (five) and steals (five) in her first three games as a Wave.
Senior Jane Nwaba has picked up right where she left off from last season, as she is the team's leading rebounder (10.3 per game) and third-leading scorer (9.3 points per game). She is on pace to eclipse 500 career points (489) on this MWC road trip and is a few weeks away from surpassing 400 career rebounds (368).
Defense has been Pepperdine's calling card as of late. The Waves rank second in the WCC in scoring defense (52.3 points per game), and third in defensive field goal percentage (30.9%) and defensive three-point field goal percentage (23.3%). While slow offensive starts have been Pepperdine's Achilles' heel, the Waves have been known to get back into games with three-point shooting. So far, Pepperdine's 39.6% clip from three is the second-best in the league, thanks to Nwaba (50.0 3FG%) and Addi Melone (41.7 3FG%).
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Although Waves have a 7-6 lead in the all-time series, Pepperdine has never won a road game against the Bulldogs. The last meeting between the two teams was a 81-78, double-overtime win for the Waves in Malibu.
So far, Fresno State has been blowing out non-Division I competition this year. The Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by an average of 40.5 points per game, bolstered by the team's 100-47 win over UC Merced on Nov. 10.
Picked 10th in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll, head coach Jaime White's squad has seven newcomers on the roster (four freshmen, three transfers) and returns only one starter from last year: junior forward Sydney Dethman. Dethman, a Froid, Mont. native, played her way into the starting lineup during MWC season last year and averaged 5.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game. This year, she averages 7.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, the latter of which ranks third on the team.
True freshman Tajia Sta. Maria has been the Bulldogs' leading scorer (18.5 points per game) while connecting on 53.8% of her field goals, most of which come from inside the three-point line. She is the reigning MWC Freshman of the Week after scoring 37 points in Fresno State's two games last week.
Another contributor for the Bulldogs is McLennan Community College transfer Bineta Diatta, who nearly averages a double-double with 9.0 points and a team-high 10.0 rebounds per game. Diatta's 10.0 rebounds per game are tied for the second-most in the Mountain West Conference.
UP NEXT: Pepperdine travels to Reno, Nev. to take on the Nevada Wolf Pack on Friday, Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m.
