Pepperdine University
Northern Arizona
Pepperdine Faces off with NAU on Monday
12/17/2023 9:35:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. — Looking to carry momentum from Saturday's 20-point win over Cal State Bakersfield, the Pepperdine women's basketball team returns to Malibu to play its penultimate non-conference road game against Northern Arizona this Monday, Dec. 18.
Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. PT; the game will be live-streamed on ESPN+. Admission is free for Pepperdine faculty and staff with a student ID, and tickets can be purchased at tickets.pepperdinewaves.com.
Monday's game will be a contrast of styles, pitting Pepperdine's solid team defense against an NAU team that pushes the pace and shoots plenty of threes. The Waves' (3-8) defense has held teams to shooting 24.2% from beyond the arc (28th in Division I), while the Lumberjacks (6-3) connect on 32.7% of their tries from beyond the arc, but attempt 24.1 threes per game — good for 51st in Division I.
Although Pepperdine has a 7-3 lead in the all-time series, the Waves and Jacks haven't crossed paths in nearly 10 years, NAU has never won in Malibu and Pepperdine has won the last five games between the two teams.
GAME #12: Pepperdine vs. Northern Arizona | Monday, Dec. 18 | Firestone Fieldhouse | Malibu, Calif. | ESPN+ | 2 p.m. PT
SCOUTING THE WAVES
The Waves aim to carry momentum from Saturday's 80-60 road win over Cal State Bakersfield, in which five players scored in double-figures, the team shot 55% from the field and out-rebounded the Roadrunners 47-28. Saturday's win was the Waves' best offensive showing of the year in points scored, field goal percentage and assists against Division I competition.
Of the five double-figure scorers for the Waves, two came off the bench. Emerita Mashaire had her best game in a Pepperdine uniform with a near triple-double of 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Half of her points came in the fourth quarter, in which the Waves went 8-for-9 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. Additionally, Ella Brubaker led the Waves in scoring for the sixth-straight game with 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting for her first Division I 20-point game.
Jane Nwaba — Pepperdine's leading rebounder and the sixth-best rebounder in the West Coast Conference — had her third double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-tying-high of 11 rebounds to go along with three assists. Additionally, Pepperdine's frontcourt of freshman Jorynn Ross and senior Megan Harkey chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. In particular, Ross has played the best stretch of basketball in her young career lately. Saturday was the fourth-straight game Ross has set her career-best scoring night; over the past four games, Ross is averaging 8.8 points (on 73.9% shooting) and 3.8 rebounds in 21 minutes per contest.
More offensive consistency combined with Pepperdine's already-established perimeter defense will be critical against NAU. Defensively, Pepperdine leads the WCC in field goal percentage defense (37.4%), and three-point field goal percentage defense (24.2%), plus ranks second in scoring defense (61.7 points allowed).
SCOUTING THE LUMBERJACKS
Winners of two straight coming into Monday's game, the NAU Lumberjacks haven't missed a beat after winning the Big Sky Conference regular-season title last season. Head coach Loree Payne's team plays fast, isn't afraid to take threes (24.1, 51st in Division I), and shares the ball well (17.1 assists per game, 43rd in Division I) in its 6-3 campaign so far.
The Lumberjacks have gone 3-0 against WCC schools with wins over Portland (66-65), Pacific (96-65) and San Francisco (92-76). In the past two wins over Pacific and San Francisco, the Jacks shot 44.9% from the field and 44.2% from three.
NAU returns two full-time starters and three role players from last season's 21-14 season, including leading scorer and rebounder Sophie Glancey (12.7 points, 5.8 rebounds per game) and Emily Rodabaugh (11.6 points, 5.4 rebounds per game) Over the offseason, Payne bolstered the backcourt with two Montana State transfer guards — Leia Beattie (10.1 points per game) and Grace Beasley (7.4 points, team-high 3.1 assists per game).
The Jacks have been tested in the non-conference slate, with their only losses coming to Pac-12 schools Arizona and Oregon, plus a home loss to UNLV, which ranks 23rd in the latest AP Polls.
UP NEXT: After a brief break for the holidays, Pepperdine will return to Firestone Fieldhouse to host Cal State LA on Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. The game will be the first half of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team, which hosts Westcliff at 6 p.m. Tickets for both games can be purchased at tickets.pepperdinewaves.com.
