SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Pepperdine women's basketball players Jane Nwaba and Jorynn Ross earned West Coast Conference honorable mention honors and a spot on the WCC All-Freshman Team, respectively, on Tuesday. This is the first time either Wave has earned all-conference honors. 

Nwaba (Carson, Calif./Palisades Charter HS) has truly done it all for the Waves during her senior season. She leads Pepperdine with 10.4 points., 7.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game, making her the only WCC player to accomplish that feat for her team.

Throughout the season, Nwaba led the team in scoring 12 times, rebounding 22 times and assists 12 times while taking on more of a primary ballhandling role late in the season. In conference play this season, Nwaba set her career-high with 22 points against San Francisco on Feb. 1, plus she tied her career-high with 12 rebounds in Pepperdine's win over San Diego — the same game in which she made a go-ahead layup for the Waves' first WCC win.

Going into the WCC Championships, Nwaba has finished in double-figures in the last 10 games, plus she has recorded double-doubles in three of the last five contests. Her nine double-doubles this season also led the team, plus she is one away from breaking into the program's top-10 single-season double-double leaderboard.

A freshman from Milwaukee, Wisc., Ross is the 23rd Wave to be named to the WCC's All-Freshman team. Although Ross has consistently been one of the Waves' best rebounders, she established herself as a scoring threat during a five-game stretch in November in which she reset her single-game scoring high in five consecutive games. Ross won back-to-back WCC Freshman of the Week honors in December, making her the first Wave to accomplish this feat since the conference implemented the award in the 2020-21 season. 

This year, Ross has finished in double-figures five times, was Pepperdine's leading scorer twice, and the Waves' leading rebounder five times. Ross set her single-game scoring record with 16 points against NAU on Dec. 18; in conference play, her best night was a 13-point outing at Pacific on Jan. 20. Ross also recorded her first collegiate double-double with a 10-point, 10-rebounding effort at Saint Mary's on Feb. 17.

 

The full list of WCC postseason awards, which are voted on by the league's nine head coaches, are as follows:

Player of the Year: Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga

Freshman of the Year: Zeryhia Aokuso, Saint Mary's

Newcomer of the Year: Freja Werth, San Francisco

Defensive Player of the Year: Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga

Sixth Woman of the Year: Maud Huijbens, Gonzaga

Coach of the Year: Lisa Fortier, Gonzaga

All-Conference First Team: Yvonne Ejim (Gonzaga), Debora dos Santos (San Francisco), Jasmine Gayles (San Francisco), Tess Heal (Santa Clara), Anaya James (Pacific), Brynna Maxwell (Gonzaga), Olivia Pollerd (Santa Clara), Emme Shearer (Portland), Kayleigh Truong (Gonzaga), Kaylynne Truong (Gonzaga)

All Conference Second Team: Zeryhia Aokuso (Saint Mary's), Maisie Burnham (Portland), Elizabeth Elliott (Pacific), Veronica Sheffey (San Diego), Eliza Hollingsworth (Gonzaga)

Honorable Mention: Ali Bamberger (Saint Mary's), Cecilia Holmberg (Pacific), Alexis Mark (LMU), Jane Nwaba (Pepperdine)

All-Freshman Team: Dyani Ananiev (Portland), Zeryhia Aokuso (Saint Mary's), Maia Jones (Saint Mary's), Madison Naro (Santa Clara), Jorynn Ross (Pepperdine)

UP NEXT: Ross, Nwaba and the Waves will take on the 8-seeded San Diego Toreros in the first round of the Credit Union 1 WCC Championship, held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas this Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for noon on ESPN+.