Pepperdine plays Washington State, aims to stop home losing streak

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Washington State Cougars (18-12, 13-6 WCC) at Pepperdine Waves (8-19, 3-15 WCC)

Malibu, California; Thursday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Pepperdine takes on Washington State looking to end its three-game home losing streak.

The Waves have gone 5-6 at home. Pepperdine ranks ninth in the WCC in rebounding averaging 28.8 rebounds. Makena Mastora leads the Waves with 4.9 boards.

The Cougars are 13-6 in WCC play. Washington State ranks fifth in the WCC with 22.9 defensive rebounds per game led by Tara Wallack averaging 4.7.

Pepperdine is shooting 38.2% from the field this season, 0.9 percentage points lower than the 39.1% Washington State allows to opponents. Washington State has shot at a 42.6% rate from the field this season, 3.0 percentage points greater than the 39.6% shooting opponents of Pepperdine have averaged.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Chloe Sotell is scoring 10.6 points per game and averaging 2.9 rebounds for the Waves. Ornela Muca is averaging 1.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Eleonora Villa is scoring 14.0 points per game and averaging 3.1 rebounds for the Cougars. Wallack is averaging 14.3 points and 6.4 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Waves: 1-9, averaging 52.7 points, 27.1 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 5.6 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 37.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.0 points per game.

Cougars: 6-4, averaging 70.5 points, 31.2 rebounds, 13.1 assists, 6.5 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.8 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.