MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine women's basketball (10-5, 1-2 WCC) hosts the Lions of Loyola Marymount (8-7, 2-2 WCC) Thursday night before heading to San Diego (6-11, 0-4 WCC) to take on the Toreros Saturday afternoon.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Waves notched their first conference win over Saint Mary's 60-52 at home.
• Meghan Fiso and Shorna Preston led the team with 14 points apiece. 
• With 14 points and 15 rebounds, it was Preston's fifth double-double of the season.
 
GAME NOTES
• Finishing nonconference 9-3, it is the program's fourth best start ever and best in 45 years.
• Receiving votes in this week's College Insider's mid-major top 25, it is the Waves third straight week in the poll, making the program's first appearance two weeks ago.
• 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 14th in defensive rebounds and 45th in free throw percentage at 76 percent.
• 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.
• Twelve in the WCC in scoring, Guiney has scored double digits 11 times, setting four new career-highs and leading the Waves in over half of the games played.
• Scoring 26 last 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 15 games played.
• With 32 made from three with just about half the season to go, Harmon is on pace to tie for first in the most three pointers ever made in a single season.
• 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 24.1 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 9.7 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 less than .40 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 11.3 points per game and 5.7 rebounds.
• Fiso's younger sister, Katie, is a sophomore at the University of Oregon leading her team with 15.3 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 LMU
• All-time, Pepperdine holds the advantage over LMU 61-36.
• In Malibu, the Waves have a convincing winning record of 31-13.
•Last year, Pepperdine split the series with LMU with a 55-43 win at home while falling 49-58 on the road.
• Coming off a loss, the last time the Waves lost two or more in a row came in a three-game stretch from 2023-2024.
 
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS
• Sitting at 8-7, including 2-2 in conference play, LMU is coming off a 82-85 loss in overtime to San Francisco.
• Both conference losses for the Lions have come in extra time, losing to the Dons in one overtime while dropping a game on the road to Gonzaga 80-87 in double overtime.
• With two Lions averaging double digits, Jess Lawson and Maya Hernandez lead the way for their squad with 15.9 and 14.7 per game, respectively.
• Defensively, Lawson is also at the top of the table with 7.9 boards per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH SAN DIEGO
• All-time, Pepperdine holds the advantage over San Diego narrowly, 51-45.
• On the road, the Waves are 26-25, including a 26-18 record inside Jenny Craig Pavilion.
• Last season, Pepperdine played the Toreros three times, beating them in both meetings in the regular season before falling to them in the opening round of the WCC tournament 59-66 in Las Vegas.
• Pepperdine has not won by more than one possession on the road since the 2018-19 season.
 
 
SCOUTING THE TOREROS
• Currently 6-11, San Diego is on a four-game losing streak as they open conference play 0-4.
• Holding a winning record at home, the Toreros are currently 5-4 inside Jenny Craig Pavilion.
• Kylie Ray is the sole Torero in double digits, leading her team with 15.8 per game.
• Defensively, Ayla Williams leads the way with an average of 6.1 boards per game.
 
 
Tipoff on Thursday is scheduled for 6 p.m. As the "Malibu Dreamhouse" night, the first fans in attendance will receive a pink Malibu shirt. Saturday's game on the road is scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. Both games 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
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