Pepperdine head coach Katie Faulkner and Nick Daschel of the Oregonian join hosts Ann Schatz and Mary Murphy on this week’s edition of the WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT Women’s Basketball Podcast.
 
Faulkner is in her first year as the Head Coach at Pepperdine after serving as the Associate Head Coach at Washington since the 2021-22 season. She is in her 11th year of coaching overall.  
 
Timestamps are listed below for efficient viewing:
 
0:45 – Murphy breaks down San Francisco’s victory over Gonzaga to snap the Bulldogs’ 14-game winning streak and the impact across the conference heading into the final week of the regular season.
“We say this every week, it’s another wild week of wow look what happened. Expect the unexpected.”
 
1:30 – Murphy and Schatz discuss Portland’s comeback win and Alexis Mark’s recognition as a U.S. Basketball Writers Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week honoree.
 
2:50 – Murphy and Schatz highlight the standings as teams fight for seeding in next week’s Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship.
 
3:46 – Murphy breaks down San Francisco’s recent surge despite the injury to Debora dos Santos.
 
7:45 – Katie Faulkner joins the show
 
8:30 – On stepping into the role as a head coach for the first time.
“They always say you’re never ready to be a head coach and they are right. You are not ready until you have to be, but I look at it how I wasn’t ready to be a mom and then you just do it. I’ve really enjoyed learning all the ins and outs. I think there is more appreciation for my former bosses as far as the hats they wear and the weight of responsibility.”
 
9:55 – On why Pepperdine is a perfect fit.
“When I thought more about the process of becoming a head coach, from all the great ones, it’s about creating a great environment. That is the number one key to success because basketball is hard. It’s simple but hard. It starts with people. Basketball is four years and there’s a whole host of opportunities to strengthen young women to go into the workforce. The academic piece is really important to me, and I believe Pepperdine checks all those boxes with the business school, law school, and the incoming medical school, just the reputation this place has.”
 
12:19 – On what she learned as an assistant coach that prepared her for this role.
 
15:00 – Nick Daschel joins the show.
 
15:30 – On Oregon State’s standing in the West Coast Conference.
 “They are in the hunt. I look at the top of the WCC and I think there are five maybe six teams that could win the tournament and Oregon State is in that mix. Their playing better defensively and picking it up when they need to.”
 
17:09 – On the tightly contested West Coast Conference race.
 
17:58 – On Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck’s success.
 
20:15 – On Portland’s play and the veteran programs near the top of the conference.
“Portland has seniors across the board. Michael Meek is a great coach, and they are bought into what he’s doing. You look at the top end of the league, USF is loaded with seniors, Oregon State has starters with seniors, Portland is pretty much all seniors, the top end is really a senior dominated part of the conference.”
 
22:21 – Murphy and Schatz discuss the battle for seeding over the final week.  
 
To watch the complete episode, click here.
 
Full episodes of both the WCC POINTS IN THE PAINT Women’s Basketball Podcast and Men’s Basketball Podcast are available on the WCC’s YouTube channel, as well as Apple and Spotify podcasts. Fans can also find clips of each show on the WCC basketball X account, @WCChoops, as well as the Conference’s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok channels @WCCsports with links to the full episode.