Pepperdine University
Nevada
Waves Continue Road Swing at Nevada
11/16/2023 1:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
RENO, Nev. — Pepperdine women's basketball continues its Mountain West Conference road swing with a Friday night game against the Nevada Wolf Pack at 6:30 p.m. PT.
The Waves (2-2) are looking to rebound from a 74-55 loss at Fresno State on Thursday night, in which a one-possession game at halftime unraveled with a big third quarter from the Bulldogs. Graduate student Myra Gordon's team-high 14 points and Jane Nwaba's 12-point, five-rebound outing helped the Waves' cause, plus true freshman Holly Griffiths added a career-high 10 points off the bench.
Friday night will be the 13th meeting between Pepperdine and Nevada, who are tied 6-6 in the all-time series. The Waves last won in Lawlor Event Center in 2017-18, but the road team has won the last two meetings.
GAME #5: Pepperdine at Nevada | Friday, Nov. 17 | Lawlor Events Center | Reno, Nev. | Mountain West Network | 6:30 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
So far, Myra Gordon (Fort Worth, Texas/L.D. Bell HS) has led the Waves offensively with 12.8 points per game — good for ninth in the West Coast Conference. Offensively, Pepperdine has gotten contributions from all 12 available players in the early season so far; of those 12, six have had double-figure scoring nights through four games. Although Pepperdine has two double-figure scorers (Gordon and Nwaba), the Waves have seven players averaging over 5.0 points per game, and no one averaging more than 13 points per game.
The Waves have been a consistently solid rebounding team and have yet to be out-rebounded in a single game this year. As a team, Pepperdine averages 40.3 rebounds per game (4th-WCC) and out-rebounds teams by an average of 9.3 rebounds per game (2nd-WCC). Individually, Nwaba (Carson, Calif./Palisades Charter HS) leads the team with 9.0 rebounds per game — good for third in the WCC — and she has either led the team or has tied as the team's leading rebounder in all four games this season.
SCOUTING THE WOLF PACK
Picked to finish eighth in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll, Head Coach Amanda Levins will rely on three returning starters in order to improve on the team's 10-win season from a year ago.
Nevada has struggled offensively in two games (they have shot 32.7% from the field and 16.3% from beyond the arc), but have used an opportunistic defense to stay afloat in games. The Wolf Pack average 20 steals per game, albeit in a two-game sample size, yet in both games the team forced more than 15 steals. In the team's lone win of the year against Sacramento State, the Wolf Pack forced a whopping 28 turnovers. Taking care of the ball is a must against this group.
Nevada guard Audrey Roden has been the Wolf Pack's leading scorer in both games with a 21-point night against Sacramento State and a 17-point outing at Long Beach State. She averages 19.0 points per game on 45.2% shooting from the field.
Returner Kaylee Borden is Nevada's second-leading scorer at 7.0 points per game, yet she has struggled from beyond the arc this year, connecting on 16.7% of her three-point attempts. Rounding out the returning starters is senior forward Lexie Givens, who fills the stat sheet to the tune of 6.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 4.5 steals per game. She leads the team in assists and steals, the latter of which was boosted by an eight-steal night in the Wolf Pack's win over Sacramento State.
UP NEXT: Pepperdine wraps up its road trip at Boise State on Monday, Nov. 20.
