Wave of Optimism at Pepperdine

Move over UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge. Make room for Pepperdine, another team poised to crash the NCAA tournament.

Fresh off consecutive 20-victory seasons and a National Invitation Tournament berth, the Waves return nine players, including All-West Coast Conference junior guard Rasheeda Clark.

“When you look at where this program is coming from and where it is headed, you can see the reason for optimism,” said Mark Trakh, who begins his seventh season as coach.

Not long ago, Pepperdine, and the entire WCC, for that matter, was among the dregs of women’s basketball. But two WCC teams advanced to the NCAA tournament in four of the last five years and four teams advanced to the post-season last season.

Pepperdine was 21-9 and tied Santa Clara for its first conference title with an 11-3 mark.

It’s been a stunning reversal.

“This is definitely the second-best conference in the West behind the Pac-10,” Trakh said. “It’s getting better every year.”

The Waves are keeping pace. They won eight consecutive games down the stretch last season before losing the WCC tournament final to St. Mary’s, 72-69, when Clark’s last shot lipped the rim.

After the season, Clark, who averaged 16.1 points and 4.8 assists, played for the U.S. national team in the World University Games.

“Rasheeda is a legitimate All-American candidate,” Trakh said. “She’s like Edniesha Curry [of Northridge], one of the top unknown players in the country.”

Five forwards 6 feet or taller also return. Three are sophomores--Anna Lembke, Nadja Morgan and Sarah Richen--and two are seniors--Dee Braxton and Jodi Sackville.

“We are very deep in the front line,” Trakh said. “They are all interchangeable at the four and five positions and all have about the same ability.

“We can be aggressive because we have a lot of fouls to give.”

Trakh focused his recruiting on guards, landing three freshman who could make an immediate impact.

Tamara McDonald of Chaffey High chose Pepperdine over UCLA and will start at point guard. Damaris Hinojosa of Moorpark High chose the Waves over Arizona and can play either guard position and small forward. Zeynep Korur is a point guard from Istanbul, Turkey.

Those three, along with returning small forward Nesha Thomas and senior guard Jennifer Saari should make up for the loss of guard Kate Crane, the team’s leading rebounder and second-leading scorer who decided not to play this season and returned home to Bakersfield.

“We’ll miss Kate, but we aren’t dropping off much in talent,” Trakh said. “Our depth and experience have me excited. I think this could be a very good season.”

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CS Northridge Women’s Basketball Schedule

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Date Opponent Time Today PEPPERDINE 7 p.m. Nov. 26-27 Nevada tournament TBA Dec. 4 at UC Irvine 5:15 p.m. Dec. 7 UC RIVERSIDE 7:05 p.m. Dec. 11 at UC San Diego 2 p.m. Dec. 17 DARTMOUTH 7:05 p.m. Dec. 21 at Illinois 5:05 p.m. Dec. 28 TOWSON STATE 5 p.m. Dec. 31 MISSISSIPPI STATE 5 p.m. Jan. 6 *at Northern Arizona 6:05 p.m. Jan. 9 *IDAHO STATE 2:05 p.m. Jan. 13 *PORTLAND STATE 7:05 p.m. Jan. 15 *EASTERN WASH. 7:05 p.m. Jan. 20 *at Montana State 6:05 p.m. Jan. 22 *at Montana 6:05 p.m. Jan. 26 *CS SACRAMENTO 7:05 p.m. Jan. 27 *WEBER STATE 7:05 p.m. Feb. 3 *at Idaho State 6:05 p.m. Feb. 12 *NORTHERN ARIZONA 7:05 p.m. Feb. 17 *MONTANA 7:05 p.m. Feb. 19 *MONTANA STATE 7:05 p.m. Feb. 24 *at Eastern Washington 7:05 p.m. Feb. 25 *at Portland State 7:05 p.m. Mar. 2 *at Weber State 6 p.m. Mar. 4 *at CS Sacramento 7:05 p.m. Mar. 9-11 Big Sky tournament TBA

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*Big Sky Conference game

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Northridge Roster

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No. Player Pos. Ht. Year 00 Edniesha Curry G 5-5 Jr. 5 Lynda Amari G-F 6-1 Sr. 13 Leah Rice F 6-2 So. 15 Keisha Harris F 6-2 Sr. 20 Jamilah Jones G 5-7 Sr. 21 Daphne Verrept G-F 6-0 So. 23 LaShaunda Fowler G 5-6 Jr. 24 Shakira Bryant G 5-4 Fr. 25 ReShawnda Richardson F 5-8 Jr. 31 Myesha Saleem F 6-0 So. 33 Neda Milic F 6-1 Sr. 34 Ebony Davis F 6-2 Sr.

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