Thursday, February 13
Santa Clara, Calif.
6:00 p.m. PT
Pepperdine University
at
Santa Clara
Photo by: Kelly Nugent
Waves Face Broncos Before Hosting Gaels
2/12/2025 8:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Pepperdine women's basketball team plays at Santa Clara before welcoming Saint Mary's to Firestone Fieldhouse for a Saturday afternoon game as part of a double-header with the men's volleyball team.
GAME #25 – Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara in the Leavey Center with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m.
GAME #26 – ALUMNI & WOMEN IN SPORTS GAME – Pepperdine vs. Saint Mary's at Firestone Fieldhouse. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and women's basketball alumni will be recognized at halftime.
COVERAGE: Both games 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. SANTA CLARA: Pepperdine has not played Santa Clara since opening West Coast Conference play Dec. 21 in a narrow 69-70 loss in Malibu. The Waves look to get back to .500 against the Broncos, with an overall record of 44-45 dating back to 1978. Not having to track back far, the last win for Pepperdine in the Leavey Center came in the 2022-23 season, a part of a 3-0 series sweep against the Broncos for the Waves.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: Senior Olivia Pollard has led her team all season, averaging 16.9 points a game, including 19.8 over the past five games. Defensively, Malia Latu leads her team with 22 steals. Since last playing Pepperdine, Santa Clara has gathered notable conference wins over Washington State and Pacific. Most recently, the Broncos suffered a 62-69 loss to LMU at home.
SERIES VS. SAINT MARY'S: Most recently against the Gaels, the Waves went to Moraga Jan. 16 in a 41-56 loss. Senior Makena Mastora secured the first double-double for Pepperdine, scoring 14 and snagging 10 rebounds against her former team. As a whole, Pepperdine is 36-49 against Saint Mary's, but holds a winning 22-15 record in Malibu. The last win for the Waves came in the latter half of the 2021-22 season with a 70-65 overtime win in Firestone Fieldhouse.
SCOUTING THE GAELS: The Gaels have gone 2-4 since playing the Waves almost a month ago with their two wins coming on the road at San Diego and at home vs. San Francisco. With two players averaging double digits for the Gaels, Senior Kennedy Johnson and redshirt sophomore Maia Jones are leading the charge offensively, with 12.6 and 11.8 points respectively. Johnson leads both sides of the ball with an average of 5.4 rebounds and 47 steals.
LAST TIME OUT: Last playing Monday afternoon in Firestone Fieldhouse with the Waves' third game in five days, Pepperdine lost a heartbreaker in overtime 75-77 to the Pilots of Portland. Freshman Chloe Sotell led the way with 17 points, followed closely behind by Makena with 13 points. The Waves shot .375 from distance, hitting nine threes throughout the game.
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 (#16), assist/turnover ratio (#8) and three's per game (#4). For threes per game, she is fourth amongst all players with an average of 2.0 a game as well as 4th in the same category when just regarding conference games. Senior Makena Mastora is 22nd in rebounding for all games with an average of 4.6 a game. On the defensive side of the ball, senior Megan Harkey is 6th in the conference for blocks, averaging 1.2 a game.
SOARING SOTELL: As the only freshman on the team this season, Chloe Sotell is the Waves' leading scorer with 250 total points, serving a crucial role in her inaugural year playing collegiate basketball. Sitting fourth 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 has 13 games so far this season with double digits, averaging 10.4 a game.
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 leads the team with 28 steals this season, putting her at 17th in the conference with an average of 1.2 a game.
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.
GAME #25 – Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara in the Leavey Center with tipoff scheduled for 6 p.m.
GAME #26 – ALUMNI & WOMEN IN SPORTS GAME – Pepperdine vs. Saint Mary's at Firestone Fieldhouse. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and women's basketball alumni will be recognized at halftime.
COVERAGE: Both games 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. SANTA CLARA: Pepperdine has not played Santa Clara since opening West Coast Conference play Dec. 21 in a narrow 69-70 loss in Malibu. The Waves look to get back to .500 against the Broncos, with an overall record of 44-45 dating back to 1978. Not having to track back far, the last win for Pepperdine in the Leavey Center came in the 2022-23 season, a part of a 3-0 series sweep against the Broncos for the Waves.
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: Senior Olivia Pollard has led her team all season, averaging 16.9 points a game, including 19.8 over the past five games. Defensively, Malia Latu leads her team with 22 steals. Since last playing Pepperdine, Santa Clara has gathered notable conference wins over Washington State and Pacific. Most recently, the Broncos suffered a 62-69 loss to LMU at home.
SERIES VS. SAINT MARY'S: Most recently against the Gaels, the Waves went to Moraga Jan. 16 in a 41-56 loss. Senior Makena Mastora secured the first double-double for Pepperdine, scoring 14 and snagging 10 rebounds against her former team. As a whole, Pepperdine is 36-49 against Saint Mary's, but holds a winning 22-15 record in Malibu. The last win for the Waves came in the latter half of the 2021-22 season with a 70-65 overtime win in Firestone Fieldhouse.
SCOUTING THE GAELS: The Gaels have gone 2-4 since playing the Waves almost a month ago with their two wins coming on the road at San Diego and at home vs. San Francisco. With two players averaging double digits for the Gaels, Senior Kennedy Johnson and redshirt sophomore Maia Jones are leading the charge offensively, with 12.6 and 11.8 points respectively. Johnson leads both sides of the ball with an average of 5.4 rebounds and 47 steals.
LAST TIME OUT: Last playing Monday afternoon in Firestone Fieldhouse with the Waves' third game in five days, Pepperdine lost a heartbreaker in overtime 75-77 to the Pilots of Portland. Freshman Chloe Sotell led the way with 17 points, followed closely behind by Makena with 13 points. The Waves shot .375 from distance, hitting nine threes throughout the game.
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 (#16), assist/turnover ratio (#8) and three's per game (#4). For threes per game, she is fourth amongst all players with an average of 2.0 a game as well as 4th in the same category when just regarding conference games. Senior Makena Mastora is 22nd in rebounding for all games with an average of 4.6 a game. On the defensive side of the ball, senior Megan Harkey is 6th in the conference for blocks, averaging 1.2 a game.
SOARING SOTELL: As the only freshman on the team this season, Chloe Sotell is the Waves' leading scorer with 250 total points, serving a crucial role in her inaugural year playing collegiate basketball. Sitting fourth 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 has 13 games so far this season with double digits, averaging 10.4 a game.
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 leads the team with 28 steals this season, putting her at 17th in the conference with an average of 1.2 a game.
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.
Players Mentioned
F/C
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
