Pepperdine University
Pacific
Women's Basketball's Three-Game Homestand Begins Against Pacific
2/21/2024 10:50:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's basketball team kicks off its season-ending, three-game homestand against the Pacific Tigers on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Like all West Coast Conference games, it will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Free belt bags will be given to the first 50 students in attendance. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.pepperdinewaves.com.
Thursday will give Pepperdine a chance at a rematch after the Tigers won 72-49 in Stockton on Jan. 20. In that game, the Waves got off to a slow start with eight first-quarter points, then the Waves tried clawing back in the game with a 20-point third quarter. Jorynn Ross led all Waves with 13 points, while Helena Friend added 11 points and tied her career high with four steals, plus KK Brodie chipped in eight points.
Pacific leads the all-time series 19-10 and has won four of the last five meetings — the lone exception being a 74-65 Pepperdine home win during the 2021-22 season.
From here, the Waves will host #16 Gonzaga on Saturday — which is also the team's Play4Kay game, an annual breast cancer awareness game honoring those affected by breast cancer — before capping off the regular season with Senior Day against Saint Mary's on March 2.
GAME #27: Pepperdine vs. Pacific | Thursday, Feb. 22 | Firestone Fieldhouse | Malibu, Calif. | ESPN+ | 6 p.m. PT
SCOUTING THE WAVES
The Waves are looking to rebound after taking a 75-47 loss to Saint Mary's in Pepperdine's final road game of WCC play last Saturday. In that game, the Waves' offense got off to a slow start, which put them behind the eight-ball once the offense got going in a 34-point second half.
Individually, Jane Nwaba and Ross led Pepperdine with double-doubles (13 points and 10 rebounds for Nwaba, 10 points and 10 rebounds for Ross, respectively). Their efforts on the offensive glass, in particular, helped the Waves out-rebound the Gaels by a 42-32 margin — 21 of which were offensive rebounds.
After Saturday's game, Nwaba sits at nine career double-doubles — seven of which came this season. With three more double-doubles, Nwaba will be tied for the ninth-most double-doubles in a season in Pepperdine program history. She is also three double-doubles away from breaking into Pepperdine's top-10 career double-double rankings.
Nwaba is also Pepperdine's leading scorer (10.2 points per game), rebounder (7.7 boards per game) and distributor (3.0 assists per game). Her 199 rebounds this season rank 100th amongst all Division I players.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
The Pacific Tigers are coming off a 13-point home loss to Gonzaga, in which the Tigers led at halftime before the Bulldogs blitzed Pacific with a 30-point third quarter. Despite the result, Pacific became the first team in WCC play to get within 15 points of the undefeated Bulldogs. Elizabeth Elliott's 14 points led the Tigers, who had five players in double-figures.
Ever since playing Pepperdine for the first time on Jan. 20, the Tigers have been in a near-freefall, going 2-5 after starting WCC play with a 4-1 record. Over the last five games, Pacific has gone 1-4 against teams that are in the top half of the WCC standings.
The Tigers' offense ranks second in the WCC in field goal percentage (45.2%) and scoring (71.6 points per game), yet their defense is prone to shootouts. Pacific gives up a league-worst 70.6 points per game and opponents have connected on 34.8% of their three-point attempts, which ranks eighth in the conference.
Individually, the Tigers have two of the WCC's top 10 scorers in Elizabeth Elliott (13.8 points per game 7th) and Liz Smith (12.9 PPG, 8th), who has returned for Pacific after missing nearly a month due to injury. In her five games since returning, the senior guard averaged 9.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
UP NEXT: Pepperdine hosts #16 Gonzaga on Saturday at 2 p.m.
