SPOKANE, Wash. – Pepperdine women's basketball (9-4, 0-1 WCC) travels to the Kennel to take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs (9-5, 1-0 WCC) Tuesday night.
 
LAST TIME OUT

• The Waves dropped the first of a two-game stretch in Washington to Washington State 63-66.
• Elli Guiney led the team with a career-high 26 points, followed closely by Meghan Fiso who dropped 20, also a career-high for the graduate.
• Pepperdine took an overall 20 shots less than the Cougars, limiting opportunity throughout the game.

 
GAME NOTES
• Finishing nonconference 9-3, it is the program's fourth best start ever and best in 45 years.
• Ranked in the College Insider's mid-major top 25 at no. 21, it is the Waves first appearance ever in the poll.
• Nine nonconference wins is the most for a second-year head coach since DeLisha Milton-Jones in 2018.
• Entering conference play, Seleh Harmon has made 30 from distance, 22 away from breaking into the top 10 in the record books.
• Through the nonconference slate, the Waves are first in opponent field goal percentage and defensive rebounds in the West Coast Conference.
• Nationally, the Waves are 10th in defensive rebounds and 44th in total rebounds with an average of 41.9 a game.
• Elli Guiney, the sole sophomore on the Waves squad, has proven to be a difference maker as she has started in every game for the Waves this season.
• Although a sophomore, this season is Guiney's first playing significant minutes, transferring in from UNLV averaging just 4.4 minutes a game last year.
• Seventh in the WCC in scoring, Guiney has scored double digits 10 times, setting four new career-highs and leading the Waves in over half of the games played.
• Scoring 26 on Sunday against Washington State, it was the most of any conference player to open the WCC slate. 
• Freshman Seleh Harmon has come off the bench in every game this season, scoring double digits in seven of the 13 games played.
• With 30 made from three with more than half the season to go, Harmon is on pace to tie for first in the most three pointers ever made in a single season at 75.
• Harmon is the only freshman on the squad to have played in every game this season, cementing her place as the sixth man with an average of 24.2 minutes a game.
 
• Coming from Dodge City Community College, Shorna Preston from Australia is shining bright in the move to DI basketball.
• Second in the conference in rebounds, Shorna is averaging 9.6 a game.
• Preston earned the Waves' first player of the week this season from the West Coast Conference.
• Inching closer to cracking the record books, Preston is .27 away from cementing her name into the top 10 in rebound averages, which has remained stagnant since 1986.
• Graduate Meghan Fiso comes to Pepperdine from San Diego State, second on the team with an average of 11.4 points per game and 5.8 rebounds.
• Fiso's younger sister, Katie, is a sophomore at nationally-ranked Oregon leading her team with 14.6 points per game.
 
• Being just one of two teams at the DI level without a single player returning for the 2025-26 season, Coach Faulkner and her staff hit the transfer portal to build a team from scratch.
• Four freshmen are joined by eight transfers to make up the squad of 12.
• Five transfers come from Division one schools with a DII guard as well as a forward from a junior college in Dodge City, Kan.
• Outside of the United States, the Waves represent five different countries in Canada, Romania, Germany, Australia, and Spain.
• Irune Orio, a transfer from Xavier, is the Spanish representative while Ilinca Belegante comes from Romania. Lina Falk is the sole German and Taija St. Maria represents the north as the Canadian on the Waves.
• The three Australians all come from different areas with one from Perth, one from Melbourne, and the final from the Gold Coast.
• Makena Mastora, a graduate transfer into the Pepperdine women's basketball program last year, is now on the other side as an assistant coach.
• With the new addition of Seattle to the West Coast Conference, the schedule format leaves Pepperdine not traveling to Oregon State or Pacific. 
• In addition, the Waves will not host San Francisco or Gonzaga to Malibu, just playing on the road against the two opponents.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH GONZAGA
• All-time, Pepperdine is 30-52 against the Bulldogs.
• With an 11-26 record in Spokane, the Waves are hunting for their first win in the Kennel since the 2006-07 season.
• Last season, Pepperdine lost both matchups, 54-75 on the road and 53-81 in Malibu.
• The last win against the Bulldogs came in 79-69 fashion nine years ago during the 2016-17 season in Firestone Fieldhouse.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
• Sitting at 9-5, four of the five losses for Gonzaga have come at the hands of power-four schools.
• Gonzaga is coming off a double-overtime win over LMU at home 87-80.
• The last loss for the Bulldogs came at home to the hands of undefeated Arizona State.
• Five time WCC freshman of the week Lauren Whittaker leads her squad in points and rebounds with 19.4 ppg and 9.8 rebounds per game.
• Allie Turner, the reigning Freshman of the Year for the conference, is the sole other Bulldog averaging double digits with 15.0 ppg
 
Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday night. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with live stats available on www.pepperdinewaves.com
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine women's basketball has made four NCAA postseason appearances in its history, having won the WCC regular-season four times and the WCC Tournament on three occasions. With six All-American selections in program history, the Waves have also seen success in the WNIT Tournament which included a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2019.
 
TICKETS
For more information and to purchase tickets to upcoming home events, visit here.
 
FOLLOW
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