MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team is wrapping up West Coast Conference play with a two-game homestand with San Francisco and Santa Clara. The Waves' Thursday game against the Dons will be the annual play4kay game in support of breast cancer awareness. On Saturday, the women kick-off a double-header with the men and prior to the game against the Broncos, the Waves will honor its three seniors Theresa Grace Mbanefo, Becky Obinma and Marly Walls.
 
GAME #27: Thursday (Feb. 23) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (8-18, 3-13) vs. San Francisco (18-10, 8-8) at 6 PM.
 
GAME #28: Saturday (Feb. 25) at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.: Pepperdine (8-18, 3-13) vs. Santa Clara (14-15, 5-11) at 2 PM.
 
COVERAGE: Both games will be streamed on the WCC Network with Darren Preston on the call. 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.
 
TICKETS: Patrons must have an e-ticket prior to arriving on campus. Pepperdine students, staff and faculty just need their Pepperdine ID card for entry. Tickets can be found at pepperdinewaves.com/tickets.
 
SERIES VS. SAN FRANCISCO: The Dons hold the overall series lead at 45-41, including a 73-63 win this season.
 
SERIES VS. SANTA CLARA: The Waves and Broncos are even in the series at 42-all. Pepperdine defeated Santa Clara this season on the road at the buzzer 75-74.
 
LAST GAME: On Saturday, Feb. 18, the Waves dropped 76-71 to PCH Cup rival LMU in Gersten Pavilion. The Waves and Lions each outscored each other in two quarters, though the opposition had the edge after the fourth quarter. Pepperdine was led by KK Brodie with a career-high 18 points by shooting 7-for-12. Brodie also had four rebounds. Marly Walls was the second-leading scorer with 17 points. She brought down six rebounds and dished out five assists.
 
THIS YEAR: Pepperdine leads the WCC in rebounds averaging 40.1 per game and is ranked second in blocks per game with 3.4.
 
The Waves continue to be led by sophomore Ally Stedman who averages 15.6 points per game, ranking seventh in scoring on the WCC leaderboard. Stedman also ranks third in the WCC in steals per game (1.8).
 
Theresa Grace Mbanefo is the second-leading scorer on the squad averaging 12.0 points per game, which is good for 14th in the WCC. Mbanefo ranks fifth in the WCC in shooting percentage at 49.3%. She also ranks 10th in rebounds per game (5.7) and 14th in blocks per game (0.6).
 
Marly Walls leads Pepperdine and ranks fourth in the WCC in assists at (4.2). She's also 10th in steals (1.5), 15th in points (11.8) and 17th in rebounds (5.3).
 
Becky Obinma leads the Waves in rebounds with 6.3 and ranks sixth on the WCC leaderboard. She also ranks 12th in the conference for blocks with 18. Obinma averages 5.9 points per game.
 
Jane Nwaba is one of the top rebounders for the squad, averaging 6.0 per game which ranks ninth on the WCC leaderboard. Nwaba averages 8.7 points per game.
 
KK Brodie leads Pepperdine in blocks with 21, which ranks tied for 10th in the WCC. She averages 0.8 blocks per game, ranking her 10th in the conference.
 
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.