STAFF EDITORIAL
At Pepperdine we often find our eyes shifting toward “those girls.” They may be those ones in this sorority, or that sorority. They made be those ones with the Chanel bag — one for each day of the week — and beach-blonde hair to go with overly tanned skin. Whatever the case, they’re those girls who get the glances, the ones who catch people’s attention and cause lots of whispers.
But what about the women on campus who really deserve the attention? The 12 women who we all should recognize for their accomplishments are our women’s basketball team, “those girls” who just earned themselves a trip to the NCAA Tournament. If any girls should be the talk of the Bu Bubble, it should be them.
The Waves weren’t supposed to make the NCAA Tournament this year. They started the season 1-6 and suddenly found themselves at the losing end of 11 of 14 games. With just one senior on the roster, Head Coach Julie Rousseau easily could have proclaimed it a “rebuilding year,” an excuse that would have been good enough for most fans.
The term ‘rebuilding,’ however, probably never entered her mind. Rousseau kept the team positive during the rough patches. Instead of focusing on recruitment and next year’s team, she kept her sight on the development and skills of this year’s team, despite its embarrassing blowouts and frustrating close matches.
The second-year head coach just kept telling her team to believe. In all reality, it’s us, the fans, who needed to and still need to believe.
A majority of the women’s basketball games saw an attendance of fewer than 300, with one game bringing in a low of just 176 fans. The men, on the other hand, pulled in crowds of more than 1,000 during most games. Sure, men’s sports are and will always remain more popular than women’s sports, but 176 fans? An announcement for free Malibu Yo could garner five times that amount. Even a boring, two-hour Convocation could bring in more students.
Needless to say, more of us should’ve been there. But all that is in the past, just like the Waves’ 14-16 overall season record. What we can do now is applaud them for their “never give up” mentality.
The girls quietly went 5-2 in the second half of West Coast Conference play and ended up fourth in the standings. Despite the turnaround, we still largely ignored them when they traveled to Spokane, Wash., for the conference tournament while we were enjoying Spring Break.
On the first day, they pulled a mild upset, grabbing a win over fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s. The win that started attracting the team attention came the second day, when they beat second-seed rival Loyola Marymount. They then made their way to the national scene with a dramatic 71-67 upset of top-seeded Santa Clara.
The seemingly impossible story of the Waves quickly made headlines in USA Today and even on ESPN.com, but when we returned to Malibu after the week-long break, news of the girls’ success wasn’t jumping around campus like it should’ve been. The appearance of Kobe Bryant at the Pepperdine-Gonzaga men’s game got more people talking than the girls’ trip.
We should be proud of our Waves. Their shaky start and improbable run in the final games and the conference tournament speaks volumes about their heart and determination. No one thought they’d make it this far. Their losses, and even wins, were met with a shrug after each game during the season.
You may have not heard of girls such as Daphanie Kennedy and Kelsey Ball, but now’s the time to take notice. They may not be a walking Dolce & Gabbana advertisement, but, along with their basketball teammates, they’re making a name for Pepperdine.
Let’s all keep an eye out for “those girls.”
03-16-2006