PORTLAND, Ore. – Postseason play is here, with the Portland Pilots set to take on the Sam Houston Bearkats in the opening round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. The two teams play on Thursday, March 19 at 6 p.m. here at the Chiles Center. Check PortlandPilots.com for tickets, live stats, audio and video options.
GAME INFORMATION
Opponent: Sam Houston State Bearkats (18-12, 11-7 CUSA)
Day: Thursday
Date: Mar. 19, 2026
Time: 6 PM
Place: Portland, Ore.
Arena: Chiles Center
TV: ESPN+
Audio: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. SHU
Overall: 0-0 • Last 5/10: 0-0/0-0
H: 0-0 • A: 0-0 • N: 0-0
Last: N/A
PILOTS IN THE POSTSEASON
• Portland Pilots Women’s Basketball is back in the postseason, playing in their 14th postseason tournament in program history.
• As a program, the Pilots have qualified for the NCAA Tournament seven times, the WNIT four times, the WBI twice and the WBIT once.
• Portland last played in the WNIT in 2022. They earned their first ever win in the tournament that year, taking down the Colorado State Rams at home 72-63.
• Their win against the Rams was also their first ever home playoff victory.
• Last season the Pilots played in the WBIT for the first time in program history, earning two wins in the tournament over the Stanford Cardinal and the Seton Hall Pirates – their first ever over the Cardinal and their first ever over a Big East team – before losing to the Villanova Wildcats in the quarterfinals.
• The Pilots have earned a bid for postseason play in each of Portland head coach Mike Meek’s seven years on The Bluff.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Pilots most recently competed at the 2026 Credit Union 1 WCC Women’s Basketball Championships, defeating the Washington State Cougars before losing to the Oregon State Beavers in the quarterfinals.
• The Pilots dismantled Washington State 72-62 in the third round of the tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals. It’s the sixth time the Pilots have earned at least one win in the tournament under Meek.
• Portland was buoyed by a 15-2 run in the third quarter, forcing 10 turnovers with six steals on their way to a win.
• Rhyan Mogel was one point shy of her career high, scoring 19 points. She scored her career high the last time the Pilots play Washington State on Feb. 12.
• Lainey Spear added 16 points herself to round out the double-digit scorers.
• Dyani Ananiev was a huge part of the defensive performance, adding three steals and three blocks to lead the Pilots in both categories. She had eight points as well.
• Florence Dallow and Nicole Anderson added nine and eight points themselves.
• Against the Beavers, the Pilots struggled offensively with their lowest point total of the year and were outshot on free throws 24 to six, falling 60-50.
• Ananiev had a team-high 14 points, marking the 16th time that she’s scored in double digits. She had four steals as well, reaching 76 for the season.
• With 76 steals, she’s matched the most recent high total for steals in a season by a Pilot, set by Emme Shearer two seasons ago.
• Portland held the Beavers to just 34.4% shooting and 20% from outside, but were also outrebounded 54-29.
PEEK INTO THE PORT
• The Pilots lead the conference in blocks per game (5.6), turnovers forced per game (20.5) and steals per game (11.0) and ranks second in assists per game (16.8) and bench points per game (22.2).
• Nationally, Portland’s 11th in blocks per game, 24th in turnovers forced per game and 30th in steals per game and assists per game.
• Julia Dalan is 14th in total blocks nationally and first in the WCC, and her 3.3 blocks per game also leads the conference.
• Dalan’s 69 blocks are the most ever by a Pilot true freshman, breaking the record previously held by Rosemary Adams in the 1990-91 season. It’s the sixth most in a season ever by a Pilot.
• Ananiev currently leads the conference at 76 steals and 2.6 steals per game. Her 2.6 steals per contest ranks 43rd nationally.
• Ananiev is the leading scorer for the Pilots at 11.0 points per game, followed closely behind by Dallow at 10.3 points per game.
• Spear has also racked up the takeaways this year at 1.8 steals per game. Spear had eight steals earlier this year against Seattle U on Jan. 17, the most by a Pilot since 2017.
• Spear was one steal shy of the program record for steals in a game. The last player to reach nine steals in a game was her mother, Kristin, who played with the Pilots from 1995-99 and reached nine steals in a game in 1997.
• Anderson makes nearly two 3-pointers a contest off the bench primarily, averaging 1.8 per game to rank 10th in the WCC.
• Anderson averaged 9.4 points per game in conference play alone and shot 38.4% from 3-point range. Her 59 3-pointers are the most by a Pilot in a single season since Maddie Muhlheim in the 2019-20 season (60) and the eighth most in program history.
• Mogel ranks fifth in the WCC in both total assists (142) and assists per game (4.6) while also ranking third in assist/turnover ratio at 1.76.
• Mogel was the fastest Pilot to 100 assists in a season since Haylee Andrews in the 2021-22 season.
AWARDS SEASON
• The Pilots had four different players rack up postseason honors at the conclusion of the 2025-26 regular season.
• For the year All-West Coast Conference honors, Ananiev made the All-WCC Second Team, Dallow earned honorable mention and Dalan made the freshman team.
• Ananiev earns All-WCC honors for the second time in her career, while Dallow and Dalan do so for the first time.
• Anderson followed that up by earned WCC All-Academic First Team honors for her performance on the court and in the classroom.
• Along with Anderson, Ananiev, Tiffany Barbosa, Dallow, Mogel, Spear and Zimmerman all earned WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention.
A LOOK BACK AT HISTORY
• The Pilots had a historic season in 2024-25, finishing 31-5 overall and 17-3 in WCC play to win a share of the 2024-25 WCC Regular Season Title. It’s their fourth title, either tournament or regular season, in six seasons.
• Their 31 wins were a program record and their 17 wins in WCC play were also a new high for the program.
• Last year, they made the WCC Championships final for the fourth time under head coach Michael Meek and also qualified for the WBIT for the first time in program history.
• In the WBIT, they beat the Stanford Cardinal and the Seton Hall Pirates on the road to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to Villanova Wildcats in that round. The wins were the first ever road playoff wins for the Pilots, the first win ever over Stanford and the first ever over a Big East squad.
• Portland led the way in numerous statistical categories last season, leading the conference in points per game (75.7), scoring margin (12.4), steals per game (10.3), turnover margin (4.56), free throws made (16.44), free throw percentage (16.44), free throw attempts (21.08), assists per game (17.3) and assists-to-turnover ratio (1.16).
• Nationally, they were fifth in free throws made per game, 16th in free throw percentage, 21st in assists per game and free throw attempts, 34th in assist-to-turnover ratio and steals per game and 35th in points per game and turnovers forced per game (19.47).
•The Pilots set numerous program records at the Division I level, with the most points (2,726), points per game (75.7), field goals made (946), free throws made (592), free throw percentage (.780), rebounds (1,288), defensive rebounds (844), offensive rebounds (444) and assists (620).
MEEK AT THE HELM
• Michael Meek is in his seventh season as head coach of the Portland Pilots.
• Meek has been dominant through six seasons, winning WCC Tournament titles in 2020, 2023 and 2024 and the regular season title in the 2024-25 season.
• Meek has won at least 20 games in five of his six full seasons as head coach of the Pilots, including a program record 31 wins overall and 17 WCC wins in the 2024-25 seasons.
• Meek is 378-111 in his career dating back to his time at George Fox. He is 148-76 in his time with Portland.
• Meek ranks ninth among all active coaches in NCAA Division I with at least five seasons of experience in winning percentage at .773
ABOUT THE BEARKATS
• The Sam Houston State Bearkats are 18-12 on the season and finished 11-7 in C-USA play, taking fifth in the conference.
• They fell in their quarterfinals matchup in the 2026 CUSA Women’s Basketball Championship to the Liberty Flames 89-57.
• Sam Houston’s performance was a vast improvement from the year prior, when they finished 13-17 overall and 5-13 in CUSA play.
• In the preseason, Sam Houston was picked to finish seventh in the conference, with one player, Deborah Ogayemi, making the 2025-26 CUSA Women’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team.
• Ogayemi was named to the All-CUSA Second Team after averaging 12.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest. Her 3.8 offensive rebounds per game ranked second in the conference.
• For postseason honors, Fanta Kone was named the CUSA Defensive Player of the Year, leading the conference in both total steals (99) and steals per game (3.4) and ranking 13th and ninth nationally in the two categories.
• Kone led the conference in minutes per game (35.2), assists (145) and assists per game (5.0) and averaged a team-high 12.3 points per game.
• Ravon Justice is in her eighth season as head coach of Sam Houston, having posted a 116-115 record over that time. She was named the Southland Coach of the Year in 2019.
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