By Josh Fleer
Sports Assistant
Pepperdine ended its winless streak in a must-win game, earning a spot as one of 64 teams headed to the NCAA Tournament.
The Waves will face USC in the first round of the tournament played at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.
As a result of a rough streak that started three games into conference play, Pepperdine went from hopeful tournament hosts to hopeful for an at-large bid.
Needing a victory in their final game to secure that bid, the Waves traveled to San Francisco Sunday and registered a 1-0 shutout.
“The win was a relief,” said senior defender Mary Stuart, “a big relief. We haven’t been playing bad, we just haven’t been getting the ball in the net.”
The Waves hope the victory over San Francisco can lift them out of an offensive slump suffered over its previous four games that saw them go on a 0-3-1 stretch during a 13-5-1 season.
USC (9-7-4) is ranked No. 9 in the West Region by NSCAA/adidas, two behind No. 7 Pepperdine. The Women of Troy will be making their sixth straight tournament appearance.
“We had an obstacle in the road and now we’re past it,” said sophomore goalkeeper Anna Picarelli, who set a new Pepperdine career record with her 13th shutout against San Francisco.
Picarelli recorded 4.5 shutouts her freshman season and added a single season school record 9.5, passing the career mark in just her sophomore season.
“I’ve got to give credit to my defense,” Picarelli said of her records. “They deserve a lot of credit. It’s exciting. I’m glad the team’s earned this mark.”
Now that the regular season is over, the Waves are preparing for the tournament atmosphere.
“We came out to practice with a lot of energy this week,” said junior forward Ali Pavoni. “We’re stressing that it’s a whole new season now.”
The competitiveness of a tournament schedule will be nothing new this Pepperdine team. From the beginning of the year Ward has said the regular season schedule would prepare them for just this. Pepperdine played its toughest non-conference schedule in school history. They played six teams that spent at least a portion of the season ranked in the top 12 in the nation, going 2-4 against them. Their regular season schedule featured three of the teams that ended the season ranked in the top four (No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Santa Clara and No. 4 Portland).
Pepperdine last met up with USC two years ago, also in the first round of the NCAA tournament played at UCLA. That year they beat USC and moved on to face UCLA in the second round, a potential scenario this year.
Although they have a potential early meeting with powerhouse UCLA in the second round, the bracket they are in is otherwise relatively favorable.
“God willing, if we can get through this first two games, I really like our chances. It’s an easier road than other brackets. They have Portland, Santa Clara, and North Carolina all in the same section of the bracket. They were all in the final four last year. You’re going what the heck is that all about. The seedings are really strange.”
The final team standing from Pepperdine’s bracket would play the survivor of Portland, the defending national champions, Santa Clara, the 2001 national champions, and North Carolina this year’s top ranked team, in the final four.
The tournament bid this year marks the third year in a row Pepperdine has received an invitation to the big dance.
“It’s an awesome compliment to our girls,” said Ward. “Just a few years ago we had never been and it’s an expectation. We wont be happy unless we go farther than we did last year,” said Ward. “If we get hot we can go a long way in this tournament. I told the girls that.”
Last year the Waves made it to the sweet 16 before being eliminated by the University of Michigan in a game played in the cool Midwest weather.
The Waves will have sophomore forward Megan Woods back for the start of the tournament. Woods, who received honorable mention All-West Coast Conference after her freshman season last year, is one of the team leaders with 16 points despite missing five of the last six games due to mono.
Pepperdine is 12-2 in games in which Woods has played, and just 1-3-1 while she was sidelined.
November 13, 2003
