The Pepperdine women’s basketball team closed out its 2010 West Coast Conference season placing third out of the eight teams in the conference with a record of 20-11 overall.
The Waves placed second in the WCC Tournament held in Las Vegas Nev. on March 8 losing to rival and WCC favorite Gonzaga 76-48. The winner of the WCC Championship receives an automatic bid to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament and the Waves fell short accomplishing this goal.
Waves Head Coach Julie Rousseau said she was happy with her team’s performance in the tournament as they defeated fellow WCC rivals Loyola Marymount and second-seeded Saint Mary’s to reach the finals.
“I thought we played them [Gonzaga] much better Rousseau said. If we would have won we would have had an automatic bid into the NCAA but Gonzaga has had a great year.”
Rousseau was hopeful for a win against the Bulldogs but the Waves had to play an extra game before going into the finals— a situation she said may have negatively affected the Waves’ ability to perform their best.
“We played one extra game going into that and it probably played a little bit into it in terms of the fatigue factor Rousseau said. I thought first half our kids gave it their best; beginning of the second half they did and they kind of ran out of gas.”
Despite not qualifying for a bid in the WCC Championships the Waves’ record of 20-11 proved to be solid enough to be awarded with an at-large bid to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
“What is awesome is the fact that we are an at-large bid which means that we didn’t get the automatic bid to the NCAA and we didn’t get the auto bid to the WNIT Rousseau said.
We got an at-large which means that our body of work— the work we did all year— got us in that tournament.”
Rousseau said receiving the at-large bid clearly shows progress in Pepperdine’s women’s basketball program.
“I think it speaks volumes to what this means for the advancement of our program Rousseau said. With such a young team able to have the experience of post-season play this is more than we can ask for.”
The Waves left Malibu early yesterday morning to travel to Provo Utah to meet their first opponent in the WNIT tournament Brigham Young University. Pepperdine will take on BYU tonight at 7 p.m. MST (6 p.m. PST) in the first round of WNIT play.
Rousseau and her team are entering the tournament with high spirits and great expectations for the progression of the program through their participation in the WNIT.
“Every tournament you go into you want to win” Rousseau said. “We know that obviously our hands are going to be full but I like the way our kids are playing right now. I think they are playing confidently and again this is good experience as we prepare for next year and years to come.”
Senior center Miranda Ayim also said she is excited to play in a national tournament to get the Pepperdine program more recognition.
“Our team hasn’t been to post-season since 2006 so we’re excited to get Pepperdine’s name out there and garner some more respect for the school and our women’s basketball program Ayim said.
In Rousseau’s sixth season as Pepperdine’s women’s basketball head coach, the Waves have never played against BYU, and the competition the Cougars will present to the Waves is something Rousseau is looking forward to.
There are 64 teams in the NCAA and there are 64 teams in the WNIT Rousseau said, and I like to say we are in the top 128 teams in the country and that’s something to say; that’s something to be proud of.”
The winner between BYU and Pepperdine will continue the tournament with a game against either Arizona State or New Mexico State depending on which team wins tonight. The Waves lost to Arizona State earlier this season 52-62.
“I want us to play hard play loose have fun and know that we earned the right to be here just as much as anyone else Rousseau said.