By Michael Hurlbut
Assistant Sports Editor
Everything seemed to be running smoothly, not counting all the injuries. The lady Waves were the top team in the conference at 6-0 rolling on a 12-game winning streak and coming off huge wins over second and third place Santa Clara and San Diego. At 15-4, a national ranking was perhaps just a few wins away.
But it all came to a sudden screeching halt last night.
The Loyola Marymount Lions handed the Waves a 75-67 whooping in front of 505 flabbergasted fans at Firestone Fieldhouse. LMU entered the contest at 3-3 in the WCC, struggling to stay in the hunt for a conference championship.
Now the Waves are struggling to keep bodies in the game and the team at the top of the standings.
The loss makes Saturday’s rematch at LMU an even bigger matchup. Pepperdine cannot afford a second conference loss and the Lions will be looking to be the only team in the WCC to have swept the Waves this season. This was the first LMU victory for the women since the 1988-89 season.
Lions center Adrianne Slaughter led all scorers with 23 points and rebounders with 12 as LMU led from wire to wire.
The Waves were down by as much as 17 points in the first half before drawing to within five with three minutes remaining in the game. But they couldn’t complete a hoped-for comeback despite outscoring LMU 39-35 in the second half.
The Lions were also bolstered by a 19-point spree from guard Bryn Britton. She led LMU with five assists over 38 minutes.
Senior center Nadja Morgan led the Waves with 18 points as they saw their 12-game win streak disappear. Morgan also led all Pepperdine players with 11 rebounds.
“We were outplayed. But mark my words, we will beat them on Saturday,” promised
assistant coach Jodi Sackville.
Another injury plagued the Waves as freshman center Jennifer Lacy left the game with a possibly broken hand. The Waves are now down to eight healthy players and even most of those are playing with injuries. Only six Waves saw significant action in the game.
After missing all five of their 3-point attempts in the first half, the Waves fought back to shoot 5 of 12 from beyond the arc in the second half. Unfortunately, Pepperdine could not seem to get the bucket when it counted most.
Up until now, the Waves have been lead by the courageous efforts of junior guard Damaris Hinojosa. She is averaging 13.4 points per game as well as 32 minutes per game, leading the team in both categories. She also leads the team in assists with 78 on the year.
Head coach Mark Trakh is one of Hinojosa’s biggest fans. At practice this last week Trakh spoke to the girls before getting into drills. “We have some tremendous leaders on this team right now and one of them is Damaris Hinojosa.”
Damaris lowered her head in modesty as Trakh went on about how she has been leading the team to victories with the support of her teammates. However, this quiet leader has no need to be modest, as she has been the hottest hand for the Waves so far this year. Although she only scored 12 points in the losing effort against LMU, Hinojosa has scored 254 points in 19 games. She is a general on the court, keeping her teammates focused on the task at hand: winning the WCC Championship and taking the team to the NCAA Tournament.
Last Friday against Santa Clara, Hinojosa lit up the Broncos for 12 points in the Waves’ 70-60 win.
A normal home game day looks like this for Hinojosa: “We usually have a shootaround at 9 a.m. and then I head to my Humanities 113 class,” she said. “We have a pre-game meeting and meal at 2 p.m., then I usually head home to help me stay awake. I’m the type of player that can’t easily shake off that sleepy feeling so I need to stay awake by visiting my family and friends. Then I’m back in the gym at 5:30 for the game.”
Damaris is very close with her family and it shows at every home game. “I usually have about 25 family members at every home game because most of my family lives in Moorpark, near me.” Hinojosa enjoys having them around since they are her biggest fans.
Santa Clara’s game was probably one of the most physically trying games for the Waves as their numbers have been reduced due to various injured players. Guard Shandrika Lee badly sprained her wrist only five minutes into the game, forcing her to the bench for a majority of the rest of the game. In the second half, forward Sarah Richen dislocated her shoulder again, but returned to the floor after having it fixed. Guard Tamara McDonald led the team with 16 points capped off by a 3 pointer with 1:30 left in the game to ice the Broncos.
The next night, the Waves faced off against another league rival in San Diego. A win against the Toreros would break the school record for consecutive wins with 12 and give Pepperdine a two-game lead in the standings over Santa Clara. Standing in their way, however, was the nation’s leading 3-point shooter in guard Kerri Nakamoto. The reputation meant nothing to the Waves as they limited her to 12 points on 5 of 17 shooting. “We did a great job of shutting her down,” Damaris said, who dropped in 15 points for the Waves and continued to cause problems for opposing players at both ends of the court.
Damaris got started playing basketball when she was about six years old, playing at her elementary school. Before long she was playing on boy’s club teams because she was looking for more of a challenge. She ended up choosing Pepperdine at the end of her high school career because of the Christian atmosphere and the promised prosperity of the basketball program.
“I was really attracted to the entire philosophy of the team,” said Hinojosa.
Altogether, Hinojosa is a fundamentally sound player who is more often than not an unsung hero for the team. She has been playing most of the season with three bulged discs in her lower back and with her significant courttime, the injury has caused some tough times for her and the Waves.
As far as plans after college go, Hinojosa has an open mind. “I’d like to think that the WNBA is a possibility but I’m also looking into either a teaching or a coaching profession,” she said. She is currently a physical education major and plans to graduate in April of 2003.
Saturday’s game is now a pivotal one for the Waves as they look further down the road. Not only do they face a must-win situation, they are also trying to keep five healthy bodies on the court for next week. The game starts at 2:30 p.m. at Loyola Marymount with the men’s basketball team taking on the Lions at 5 p.m.
Everything seemed to be running smoothly, not counting all the injuries. The lady Waves were the top team in the conference at 6-0 rolling on a 12-game winning streak and coming off huge wins over second and third place Santa Clara and San Diego. At 15-4, a national ranking was perhaps just a few wins away.
But it all came to a sudden screeching halt last night.
The Loyola Marymount Lions handed the Waves a 75-67 whooping in front of 505 flabbergasted fans at Firestone Fieldhouse. LMU entered the contest at 3-3 in the WCC, struggling to stay in the hunt for a conference championship.
Now the Waves are struggling to keep bodies in the game and the team at the top of the standings.
The loss makes Saturday’s rematch at LMU an even bigger matchup. Pepperdine cannot afford a second conference loss and the Lions will be looking to be the only team in the WCC to have swept the Waves this season. This was the first LMU victory for the women since the 1988-89 season.
Lions center Adrianne Slaughter led all scorers with 23 points and rebounders with 12 as LMU led from wire to wire.
The Waves were down by as much as 17 points in the first half before drawing to within five with three minutes remaining in the game. But they couldn’t complete a hoped-for comeback despite outscoring LMU 39-35 in the second half.
The Lions were also bolstered by a 19-point spree from guard Bryn Britton. She led LMU with five assists over 38 minutes.
Senior center Nadja Morgan led the Waves with 18 points as they saw their 12-game win streak disappear. Morgan also led all Pepperdine players with 11 rebounds.
“We were outplayed. But mark my words, we will beat them on Saturday,” promised assistant coach Jodi Sackville.
Another injury plagued the Waves as freshman center Jennifer Lacy left the game with a possibly broken hand.
The Waves are now down to eight healthy players and even most of those are playing with injuries. Only six Waves saw significant action in the game.
After missing all five of their 3-point attempts in the first half, the Waves fought back to shoot 5 of 12 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Unfortunately, Pepperdine could not seem to get the bucket when it counted most.
Up until now, the Waves have been lead by the courageous efforts of junior guard Damaris Hinojosa.
She is averaging 13.4 points per game as well as 32 minutes per game, leading the team in both categories. She also leads the team in assists with 78 on the year.
Head coach Mark Trakh is one of Hinojosa’s biggest fans. At practice this last week Trakh spoke to the girls before getting into drills. “We have some tremendous leaders on this team right now and one of them is Damaris Hinojosa.”
Damaris lowered her head in modesty as Trakh went on about how she has been leading the team to victories with the support of her teammates.
However, this quiet leader has no need to be modest, as she has been the hottest hand for the Waves so far this year.
Although she only scored 12 points in the losing effort against LMU, Hinojosa has scored 254 points in 19 games.
She is a general on the court, keeping her teammates focused on the task at hand: winning the WCC Championship and taking the team to the NCAA Tournament.
Last Friday against Santa Clara, Hinojosa lit up the Broncos for 12 points in the Waves’ 70-60 win.
A normal home game day looks like this for Hinojosa: “We usually have a shootaround at 9 a.m. and then I head to my Humanities 113 class,” she said. “We have a pre-game meeting and meal at 2 p.m., then I usually head home to help me stay awake. I’m the type of player that can’t easily shake off that sleepy feeling so I need to stay awake by visiting my family and friends. Then I’m back in the gym at 5:30 for the game.”
Damaris is very close with her family and it shows at every home game.
“I usually have about 25 family members at every home game because most of my family lives in Moorpark, near me,” Hinojosa said. She enjoys having them around since they are her biggest fans.
Santa Clara’s game was probably one of the most physically trying games for the Waves as their numbers have been reduced due to various injured players.
Guard Shandrika Lee badly sprained her wrist only five minutes into the game, forcing her to the bench for a majority of the rest of the game.
In the second half, forward Sarah Richen dislocated her shoulder again, but returned to the floor after having it fixed.
Guard Tamara McDonald led the team with 16 points capped off by a three pointer with 1:30 left in the game to ice the Broncos.
The next night, the Waves faced off against another league rival in San Diego.
A win against the Toreros would break the school record for consecutive wins with 12 and give Pepperdine a two-game lead in the standings over Santa Clara.
Standing in their way, however, was the nation’s leading 3-point shooter in guard Kerri Nakamoto. The reputation meant nothing to the Waves as they limited her to 12 points on 5 of 17 shooting. “We did a great job of shutting her down,” Damaris said, who dropped in 15 points for the Waves and continued to cause problems for opposing players at both ends of the court.
Damaris got started playing basketball when she was about six years old, playing at her elementary school. Before long she was playing on boy’s club teams because she was looking for more of a challenge.
She ended up choosing Pepperdine at the end of her high school career because of the Christian atmosphere and the promised prosperity of the basketball program.
“I was really attracted to the entire philosophy of the team,” said Hinojosa.
Altogether, Hinojosa is a fundamentally sound player who is more often than not an unsung hero for the team.
She has been playing most of the season with three bulged discs in her lower back and with her significant courttime, the injury has caused some tough times for her and the Waves.
As far as plans after college go, Hinojosa has an open mind. “I’d like to think that the WNBA is a possibility but I’m also looking into either a teaching or a coaching profession,” she said.
She is currently a physical education major and plans to graduate in April of 2003.
Saturday’s game is now a pivotal one for the Waves as they look further down the road. Not only do they face a must-win situation, they are also trying to keep five healthy bodies on the court for next week.
The game starts at 2:30 p.m. at Loyola Marymount with the men’s basketball team taking on the Lions at 5 p.m.
Caption (
Photo by Jennifer Flannery
AND THE FOUL: Senior center Nadja Morgan draws the foul as she takes a shot against USD in the 85-75 Waves win. Morgan led the Waves with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
January 31, 2002