Pepperdine Women's Basketball Finalizes 2023-24 Roster
6/16/2023 11:36:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. — Finalizing its 2023-24 roster, the Pepperdine women's basketball team announced the signings of true freshman Helena Axelsson and transfer guard Ella Brubaker on Friday.
Both Axelsson and Brubaker round out the 10 newcomers that will suit up for Pepperdine in head coach Tim Hays' first season in Malibu. The 2023-24 roster consists of seven transfers — including five Power-5 transfers — three true freshmen and five returners from Pepperdine's 11-19 campaign last year.
Helena Axelsson
6'3" Forward
Class: Freshman
Hometown: Östersund, Sweden
Previous School: Luleå Gymnasium
A true freshman with several years of experience playing for Sweden's U15, U16 and U18 national teams, Helena Axelsson is the first Swede to suit up for Pepperdine women's basketball in program history.
While playing for the Swedish national team, Axelsson helped her U16 team place second in the 2020 Baltic Sea Basketball Cup by averaging 6.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 20 minutes per game. She also played with the U18 national team during the 2021 Nordic Championship.
Outside of her national team endeavors, Axelsson played club basketball for Ragunda Basket and, most recently, Östersund Basket in the Norra Basketettan Dam — the second-best league in Sweden. During her time with Östersund Basket, Axelsson was named the U16 Swedish Youth Club Championship MVP, plus she received a Lellens scholarship in 2020 for her on-court achievements.
She chose Pepperdine over Division I schools such as Colorado, Stephen F. Austin, Albany and others.
Axelsson comes from a basketball family, as her older sister Emilia was a junior on Tarleton State's roster last year.
Ella Brubaker
6'0" Guard
Class: Junior
Hometown: University Place, Wash.
Previous School: The Master's University (NAIA)
A three-year impact player for The Master's University Mustangs, Brubaker comes to Pepperdine after a stellar sophomore campaign, in which she earned All-Golden State Athletic and averaged 21.9 points per game — good for fifth in the NAIA. The high-scoring point guard was an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American as a second-year freshman in 2021-22 and a two-time All-Golden State Athletic Conference selection. Brubaker graduated from The Master's University this summer and has two years of eligibility remaining.
This past season, Brubaker was the GSAC's leading scorer for the majority of the season, averaging 21.9 points per game while finishing in double-figures 27 times. Brubaker had six 30-point outings, plus she led The Master's with 52 steals and was fourth on the team with 41 assists.
In her first full season of collegiate basketball, Brubaker helped the Mustangs reach the NAIA Quarterfinals and finish with a 32-4 record — the winningest season in program history. Playing alongside future WNBA first-round pick Stephanie Soares, Brubaker averaged 15.2 points per game on 46.7% shooting while starting in 35 of 36 games. She scored a career-high 36 points against the University of Redlands on Dec. 16, 2021; her 15 made field goals were one shy of the program record.
During the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, Brubaker led the team in scoring with 10.6 points in 20.8 minutes per game. Coming off the bench in all but one of the pandemic-shortened 11-game season, Brubaker had three 20-point nights, including a then-career-high 26-points against San Diego Christian on Feb. 19, 2021.
Prior to playing at The Master's University, Brubaker was a four-year varsity letter winner for Curtis High School, a 4A school located in the Seattle/Tacoma metropolitan area. She was a two-time first-team All-South Puget Sound League selection and graduated as Curtis' all-time leading scorer with 1,183 points.
