MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's basketball team's season-ending homestand continues with a rematch against the #16 Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.
Saturday's game is the annual Play4Kay game, which helps bring awareness to those affected by breast cancer. Like all West Coast Conference games, it will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.pepperdinewaves.com.
Gonzaga has a 30-49 lead in the all-time series between the two teams and has won the last 13 meetings. Saturday's game against the #16 Bulldogs marks the 33rd time a ranked women's basketball opponent has played in Firestone Fieldhouse. Pepperdine is 4-28 all-time against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25; the Waves' last ranked win in Firestone was a 79-65 win over #25 BYU on Feb. 2, 2019.
GAME #28: Pepperdine vs. #16 Gonzaga | Saturday, Feb. 24 | Firestone Fieldhouse | Malibu, Calif. | ESPN+ | 2 p.m. PT
SCOUTING THE WAVES
During the teams' first meeting in Spokane on Feb. 8, the Waves hung with the Bulldogs for a quarter, but the Zags pulled away in the second en route to an 83-46 win. In that game, the Bulldogs were playing without potential WCC Player of the Year Yvonne Ejim (20.2 points, 8.3 rebounds per game), who was playing for Team Canada as the team tried to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Jane Nwaba was Pepperdine's leading scorer in Spokane with 11 points, while Emerita Mashaire chipped in seven points, plus Jorynn Ross and Maggie Vick managed to score six points apiece — despite the latter playing in foul trouble throughout the second half.
With eight double-doubles this season and 10 in her career, Nwaba is two double-doubles away from tying for ninth on Pepperdine's single-season and career double-doubles rankings. Nwaba continues to lead the team in scoring (10.3 points per game), rebounding (7.7 per game, 4th in the WCC), assists (3.0 per game) and steals (1.3 per game). The senior from Carson, Calif. has finished in double-figures in the last eight games and has notched back-to-back double-doubles.
The Waves are looking to bounce back from Thursday's difficult 70-54 loss, in which the Waves led early in the third quarter, then gave up two critical runs to the Pacific Tigers as their lead slipped away. Pepperdine's 24-point first-quarter was its best of WCC play, thanks to 10 first-quarter points from Nwaba. Helena Friend wound up being Pepperdine's leading scorer with 13 points on 3-for-5 shooting, while Mi'Cole Cayton recorded her first double-figure scoring game in a Pepperdine uniform with 10 points.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Everything continues to go Gonzaga's way. Last Saturday, the Bulldogs clinched the regular-season title in Stockton with a 91-78 win over the Tigers. Before the Zags' 74-48 win over San Francisco on Thursday, Gonzaga announced Ejim will return for her fifth year. Gonzaga has won 21 straight games, while the closest any team has gotten to them in conference play was Pacific with their 13-point loss.
Gonzaga still leads the league at 82.0 points per game on 49.2% shooting, connects on a WCC-best 40.4% of its threes, and out-rebounds teams by 8.7 rebounds per game. The Zags' defense isn't too shabby either, surrendering 61.1 points per game (2nd-WCC) while being on the right side of zero with a +2.21 turnover margin and a 1.57 assist-to-turnover ratio. All five Gonzaga starters average at least 10.0 points per game.
UP NEXT: Pepperdine will take a week off before hosting Saint Mary's for Senior Day on March 2 during the Waves' regular-season finale. That game doubles as a Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Pepperdine great Miranda Ayim, plus a Waves women's basketball alumnae reunion.
