MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine women's basketball (20-12, 10-8 WCC) will be hosting Southern Utah (19-12, 11-7 WAC) in the second round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament Sunday afternoon after beating UC Davis Thursday night.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Waves made history, beating UC Davis in the first round of the WNIT Thursday in Firestone Fieldhouse.
• Elli Guiney dropped a career-high 27 points to lead her team.
• Taija Sta. Maria hit the buzzer-beater as time expired as her only three of the night.
• It was Pepperdine's first postseason win in seven years and is the program's first time ever hosting postseason basketball.
 
GAME NOTES
• Hosting the first two rounds of the WNIT, it is the program's first postseason appearance in seven years and the first time ever hosting a postseason game.
• Securing ten conference wins in the regular season, it is the most for the program in seven years, last doing so when posting a 10-1 conference record in the 2018-19 season.
• With nine nonconference wins, it is the most for a second-year head coach since DeLisha Milton-Jones in 2018.
• Closing out the regular season the Waves were second in the conference in field goal percentage (.445), opponent field goal percentage (.379), 3-point field goal percentage (.344) and defensive rebounds (29.0).
• Nationally, Pepperdine is 16th in defensive rebounds at 28.9 per game.
• Elli Guiney, the sole sophomore on the Waves squad, has emerged as the team's leading scorer this season, averaging 15.0 per game.
• Guiney earned All-WCC first team for her performance this season, the first Wave to recieve the honor since 2020.
• Tenth in the WCC in scoring, Guiney has set five new career-highs in her sophomore year, dropping at least twenty in nine different games this year, including the most recent two.
• With a three-point percentage of .415, Guiney currently sits in second in the record books for threes in a season with 68, seven behind tying for the top spot. 
• In Thursday's game against UC Davis, both Elli Guiney and Bella Green recorded career highs to push the Waves to a 71-68 win over the Aggies.
• Elli Guiney dropped 27 points, averaging 19.0 through the last five.
• Bella Green grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds Thursday as the graduate surpassed 1,000 career boards earlier this season.
• In the last five games, graduate Ivory Finley has emerged as a leader, scoring the most off the bench with 7.8 points per game.
• Averaging 22.0 minutes per game, the Minneapolis, Minn. native is shooting .467 with an identical percentage from distance.
•A record-high seven teams from the West Coast Conference were selected to participate across the three postseason tournaments.
• The three teams still dancing after the opening games are all in the WNIT with Pepperdine, Portland, and San Francisco extending their seasons.
• Graduate Meghan Fiso comes to Pepperdine from San Diego State and is third on the team in scoring with an average of 11.1 points per game and 4.9 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.
• In her second year at the helm, this season will be Faulkner's first curated of players originating from her and her staff.
• Faulkner has led one of the best program turnarounds in the entire country, in just one year's time turning an eight-win program into a 20 (and counting) game-winning program.
• Last season, the Waves were undefeated in nonconference play at home for the first time in five years. 
• Having her third child and second girl at the beginning of the month, Faulkner returned to coaching just 10 days after the birth of Cali Jo.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH SOUTHERN UTAH
• All-time, Pepperdine has only played the Thunderbirds once, resulting in a 86-74 victory.
• The sole matchup came in the 1988-89 season in Malibu.
 
 
SCOUTING THE THUNDERBIRDS
• Sitting at 19-12 and finishing WAC play 11-7, Southern Utah is coming off a quarterfinal loss in the conference tournament to UT Arlington. 
• The Thunderbirds are opening their postseason play against the Waves, earning a first-round bye in the tournament.
• Offensively, Sierra Chambers is one of three Thunderbirds that average double digits, leading her team with 14.9 points per game.
• Defensively, Ava Uhrich leads Southern Utah on the glass with 9.7 rebounds per game, also coming in second on the offensive end with an average of 14.1 points per game through 30 minutes of play.
 
All tickets for students and faculty are free for tomorrow's postseason game, courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics. There will also be a Kona Ice Truck right outside the entrance with free shaved ice available for all Pepperdine fans. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and 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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