By: Daniel Cook, Director of Athletics Communications & Digital Media
RIVERSIDE - The California Baptist University women's basketball team will ride the momentum of starting the 2023-24 season 7-0 into Malibu this weekend to face off against the 2-7 Pepperdine Waves. CBU is one of just 19 remaining unbeaten teams out of the 362 programs in Division I.
The Lancers will visit Pepperdine for the second time ever, previously defeating the Waves 75-67 at Firestone Fieldhouse on December 15, 2020.
Chloe Webb paces the team and leads the Western Athletic Conference in scoring, pouring in over 21 points per game. She has scored 20 or more in the past six straight games while leading CBU in rebounding and steals at eight-and-a-half and three-and-a-half per game, respectively.
CBU has four others averaging 8.5 points or more this season, including Preseason All-WAC selection Grace Schmidt (14.0 ppg) and freshman standout Khloe Lemon (9.6 ppg). CSUN transfer Anaiyah Tu'ua has been a bit of a Swiss army knife for Head Coach Jarrod Olson, running point at times while filling the stat sheets with points, rebounds, assists and steals all season long. Senior Kinsley Barrington is rounding into midseason form, starting all seven games for CBU this season and averaging over 28 minutes of work per game. She matched her career high of 21 points at Southern Utah on November 28 and followed that up by nearly posting her first double-double of the season at Utah Tech.
PEPPERDINE AT A GLANCE
The Waves have just two wins so far this season, first defeating UC Irvine 63-58 on November 7, and downing Cal Tech, 79-42, on November 11, both at home. While the Waves struggle on the offensive end of the court, ranking 324th in the nation in scoring offense, they make up for it with a stout defense that allows just 62.1 points per game. The Pepperdine defense works on all levels, ranking 46th in the NCAA in blocks per game with 4.7 and 58th in three-point defense, allowing just 26.3% from beyond the arc.
The Lancers and Waves share one common non-conference opponent this season in Long Beach State, whom the Lancers beat 82-71, and the Waves fell to 68-53. Tomorrow's game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tip and will be streamed on ESPN+ and have live stats available.
