RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University women's basketball is thankful to be home this week after a successful 2-0 trip through the Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic. The Lancers first defeated UC Santa Barbara 68-56 before claiming the first-ever Power 5 win in program history against TCU, 91-77.

The Lancers stand at 4-1 on the season, with the sole loss coming at the hands of then #15 Oregon State in Corvallis. CBU is finding success this season in the same way it did last year, through intentional ball-handling and an offense built around sharing. California Baptist currently ranks third in the nation in assist-to-turnover-ratio at 1.59 per game.

The Lancers lead the nation in assists-per-game as a team at 22.0, with Oklahoma as the closest challenger at 20.7 per game. Last year's unofficial NCAA assist leader Ane Olaeta leads the Lancers again with 9.4 dimes per contest, by far the highest average in the nation so far. Fellow senior Georgia Dale is also amongst the nation's best as her 56.5% three-point shooting puts her in a tie for seventh-highest in Division I.

GAME INFORMATION – Thursday, Dec. 2

Opponent: vs Pepperdine
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Riverside, Calif.
Venue: CBU Events Center
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

Pepperdine and CBU have one common opponent coming into Thursday's game as both teams have faced off with UC Santa Barbara this season. The Waves fell to the Gauchos at home in Malibu, 74-63, on Nov. 20. The Waves struggled to shoot well from distance against UCSB, only shooting 25.0% (3-12) from beyond the arc.

Pepperdine has three players averaging double-figures this season in Malia Bambrick (12.2), Ally Stedman (11.2) and Eve Braslis (10.2) leading the offensive charge. Bambrick is the Waves leading scorer to return from last season's clash against CBU. She recorded nine points, four rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 33 minutes against the Lancers.