NOAH GODWIN
Assistant Sports Editor
Pepperdine women’s basketball has not found much success this season in hostile arenas. The Waves are only 1-6 in opposing teams’ gyms and will play two tough West Coast Conference opponents this weekend.
Pepperdine opens the road trip tonight at 7 at Saint Mary’s College (9-7, 1-2 WCC) and continues it at Santa Clara University (8-8, 2-1 WCC) at 7 p.m. on Saturday. In addition to struggling on the road, Pepperdine is only 1-7 in games played on less than two days rest.
The Waves will not play at home again until Feb. 3 against University of San Francisco.
Pepperdine is 6-11 this season overall and 2-2 in conference play. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, first-year Head Coach Julie Rousseau has a chance to join former Head Coach Mark Trakh as the only coaches in Pepperdine history to finish their inaugural seasons with winning records.
“We definitely think we can finish with a winning record, especially since our early season schedule was one of the toughest in the country,” senior guard Syreeta Stafford said.
Pepperdine has not played in many close games this season. Of the Waves’ 17 games, only the loss at Colorado State University on Nov. 30 was decided by less than 10 points (58-64).
That trend held true last Saturday when the Waves lost to conference-leading Gonzaga University, 71-54.
The Zags’ Stephanie Hawk scored 24 points and helped break Pepperdine’s stranglehold on Gonzaga. The Waves won 10 straight games against the Zags in Firestone Fieldhouse before Saturday’s loss.
Pepperdine dressed only eight players for the game and finished with just six after senior forward Jennifer Lacy and junior forward Kelsey Ball both fouled out with over six minutes to go in the game.
“They did manage to wear us down a little bit, but we lost because we didn’t play as well as we could,” sophomore guard Lauren Wenski said.
The undermanned Waves still managed to cut an 18-point deficit to 10 points but were unable to complete the comeback.
Stafford, the only player to start every game this season for the injury-plagued Waves, scored nine points.
“Injuries are something we can’t really control, so we just have to keep playing hard and have confidence in our abilities,” Stafford said.
The offensive deficiencies Pepperdine displayed against Gonzaga were nowhere to be found when the Waves beat University of Portland, 85-52.
The Waves have won 15 straight games when scoring more than 70 points, a streak that dates back to Nov. 2003.
Freshman guard Daphanie Kennedy scored a career-high 28 points and was one of five Waves to reach double figures. Kennedy’s performance breaks the previous high this season by a Wave of 26 points by Lacy.
“We have several players on this team capable of having big games like that, so it’s not that surprising to us when different people step up on different nights.
Pepperdine shot 47 percent from the floor, including a season-high 53 percent from three-point range.
The Waves also dominated the glass with a 52-29 advantage in rebounds and a 24-3 edge in second-chance points.
“We’ve played better lately and know we’ll only keep getting better as the season progresses because we’re working so hard,” Stafford said.
Pepperdine will go on the road to face Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara in their next two games. Both are WCC opponents.
01-20-2005
