The Pepperdine women's basketball team heads to Oregon to face Oregon State and Portland on the road.
 
GAME #20 – Thursday (Jan. 30) against Oregon State at the Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
GAME #21 – Saturday (Feb. 1) against Portland at the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore.. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
 
COVERAGE: The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required). Live stats can be found at www.pepperdinewaves.com
 
FIRE RELIEF: To assist those affected by the LA County fires, please visit this link for a list of ways to donate including the Pepperdine Strong Fund, the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu, the Malibu Urgent Care Center and more. Pepperdine is incredibly grateful to the firefighters and first responders who have kept thousands safe during these events
 
GAME DONATIONS: Fans are encouraged to bring chapsticks/lip balm, preservative free eye drops, throat lozenges or hard candies and sunscreen to the game for donations to Malibu Urgent Care who supplies these items to those affected by the fires.
 
SERIES VS. OREGON STATE: As a new West Coast Conference opponent, Pepperdine has only played Oregon State a total of four times. Of those four times, the Waves are an even 2-2, including winning their one game in Corvallis against the Beavs in the 2010-11 season. The most recent matchup was just one year later in the 2011-2012 season where Oregon State won in Malibu 63-52.
SCOUTING THE BEAVS: Opening conference play 3-0, Oregon State posted wins over Gonzaga and Portland, the two sitting at the top of the WCC. Senior Kelsey Rees leads the Beavs with a .406 shooting percentage from the field, averaging 7.7 a game and shooting .857 from the charity line. The only nonconference opponent shared with the Waves also shares a similar result. UC Irvine beat Pepperdine 65-56 and by nearly the same margin beat Oregon State 60-48.
SERIES VS. PORTLAND: The Waves are looking to post an even .500 overall record against the Pilots after the weekend, currently sitting at 38-39 against the Pilots. Chiles Center is notoriously difficult for Pepperdine, holding a 12-25 record in the venue. In the last matchup between the two squads, senior Helena Friend dropped 11 points, collecting three rebounds. The Waves last collected a win in the 2018-19 season, coming close in a narrow 94-101 loss in overtime in the 2020-21 season.
 
SCOUTING THE PILOTS:  Kicking off the season to their best start in decades, Portland held an undefeated record of 14-0 going into conference play and extended it to 15-0 with an 81-54 win to open WCC play. The team's three losses this year have come to Gonzaga (2) and Oregon State. With three players averaging double digits per game, Portland's trio of Emma Shearer, Maisie Burnham, and Alexis Mark make up the majority of the squad's points per game. Overlapping nonconference opponents include Cal Baptist and Nevada, both of which Portland posted wins against.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Waves have already played once this week, defeating the LMU Lions 55-43 Tuesday afternoon in Malibu. Freshman Chloe Sotell (Samford, Conn.) put up 22 points, including six threes for the second time this season, putting her in the record book at third all-time for threes made in a game. Holding the lead the majority of the game, the Waves made at least two from distance per quarter, giving them breathing room down the stretch. The 55-43 win is the first over the Lions in two years.
 
IN THE WCC: The sole freshman on the roster appears in multiple categories among the top 25, including points per game (#24), assists per game (#14), assist/turnover ratio (#4) and three's per game (#3). For threes per game, she is fourth amongst all players with an average of 1.9 a game as well as 11th in the same category when just regarding conference games. Senior Makena Mastora is 24th in rebounding for all games with an average of 4.9 a game. On the defensive side of the ball, senior Megan Harkey is 8th in the conference for blocks, averaging 1.1 a game.
 
SOARING SOTELL: As the only freshman on the team this season, Chloe Sotell is the Waves' leading scorer with 202 total points, serving a crucial role in her inaugural year playing collegiate basketball. Sitting fifth in the conference games with an average of 2.0 threes per game, Chloe is only one of two freshmen in the top 25 across the entire conference. The Connecticut native leads the team with 41 three-pointers, averaging 10.6 points per game over the season.
 
BREWING WITH BRUBAKER: Tying her highest D-I performance three separate times this season, the senior is having her best year yet with the Waves. Outside of performing offensively as the Waves' second highest scorer this season, the Washington native had a career-high four steals against LMU last time out, leading the team with 25 this season.
 
AT THE HELM: Katie Faulkner is entering her first year as the head coach of the Waves. Previously, Faulkner served as an assistant at the University of Washington for three seasons. During her tenure, Faulkner took Washington to the WNIT Final four in the program's first postseason berth in six years. Prior to joining the Huskies, the Montana alumnae served as an assistant coach at Oregon State from 2016-2021. In those five seasons, the Beavers garnered a 118-37 record while going to the NCAA tournament four years in a row, including a 2018 Elite Eight appearance.
 
 
CATCH THE WAVES — Season tickets for Pepperdine men's and women's basketball are currently on sale at PepperdineWaves.com/Tickets (http://pepperdinewaves.com/tickets). Single game tickets are also available for purchase. Season ticket prices begin at $99 and fans have the opportunity to purchase a pass for priority parking near Firestone Fieldhouse for $200.