MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women's basketball team will begin its final West Coast Conference road trip this week visiting BYU and San Diego.
GAME #24: Thursday (Feb. 9) at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah: Pepperdine (7-16, 2-11) at BYU (12-11, 7-5) at 6 PM PT/7 PM MT.
GAME #25: Saturday (Feb. 11) at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego, Calif.: Pepperdine (7-16, 2-11) at San Diego (13-10, 7-5) at 2 PM.
COVERAGE: 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.
SERIES VS. BYU: The Cougars hold the overall series lead 25-4. In January, the Waves and Cougars matched up inside Firestone Fieldhouse, but BYU came away with the 63-52 win. The Waves did defeat the Cougars in the 2020 WCC Tournament quarterfinal 62-51 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
SERIES VS. SAN DIEGO: Pepperdine holds the overall series lead 48-41 over San Diego, but the Toreros have won the last six out of the seven meetings dating back to the 2019-20 season. Last month, the Waves and Toreros had a close battle in Firestone Fieldhouse, but San Diego earned a 58-51 win.
LAST WEEK: On Thursday, Feb. 2, Pepperdine hosted Saint Mary's and fell 62-55. The Waves took an early 13-9 lead over the Gaels, but a 22-point second quarter for SMC put them on top. Pepperdine scored 27 points in the fourth quarter, including a 12-point scoring run, but that wasn't enough to surpass Saint Mary's.
Ally Stedman was the Pepperdine leading-scorer with 17 points by shooting 7-for-11. On Saturday, Feb. 4, the Waves dropped a home WCC contest 66-59 to Pacific. Pepperdine and Pacific exchanged the lead nine times and were tied four times. Pepperdine came back and tied the game at 45-all late in the third quarter, but Pacific sank the last bucket of the third quarter with a two-point lead and never let up.
Marly Walls led the squad with 20 points. She had four rebounds and two assists. This was the sixth game this season for Walls with 20 or more points.
THIS YEAR: Pepperdine leads the WCC in rebounds averaging 39.8 per game and is ranked fourth in blocks per game with 3.3.
The Waves continue to be led by sophomore
Ally Stedman who averages 15.4 points per game, ranking her eighth 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 15th in the WCC. Mbanefo ranks fifth in the WCC in shooting percentage at 50.5%. She also ranks 12th in rebounds per game (5.6) and tied 16th in blocks per game (0.6).
Marly Walls leads Pepperdine and ranks fourth in the WCC in assists at (4.4). She's also ninth in steals (1.5), 16th in points (11.8) and rebounds (5.2).
Becky Obinma leads the Waves in rebounds with 6.7 and ranks seventh on the WCC leaderboard. Obinma averages 5.6 points per game.
Meaali'i Amosa is one of three top rebounders for the squad, averaging 5.6 per game which ranks 13th on the WCC leaderboard. Amosa averages 5.2 points per game.
KK Brodie leads Pepperdine in blocks with 19, 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.
