PortlandPilots.com<\/a><\/p>\nPOR vs. SCU
\nOverall:<\/b> 25-49 \u2022\u00a0 Last 5\/10:<\/b> 2-3\/4-6
\nH:<\/b> 18-18 \u2022\u00a0 A:<\/b> 12-28\u00a0 \u2022\u00a0 N:<\/b> 4-3
\nLast: <\/b>@POR 81, SCU 71 (1\/5\/23)<\/p>\n
THIS WEEK <\/b>
\n\u2022 The Portland Pilots are headed to The Bay for a pair of showdowns against the San Francisco Dons and Santa Clara Broncos.
\n\u2022 They’ll play the Dons on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. and the Broncos on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 2 p.m.
\n\u2022 An online video stream and live stats for will be available for both games. Those links can be found at PortlandPilots.com.<\/p>\n
ABOUT THE PILOTS<\/b><\/u>
\n\u2022 The Portland Pilots are 16-6 overall and 10-1 in WCC play after wins over the Pepperdine Waves and the LMU Lions.
\n\u2022 The wins give Portland their best WCC record through 11 games since the 1996-97 season.
\n\u2022 The Pilots held the Waves under 40% from the field (35.7%). They are the third WCC team this season that they’ve held under 50 points.
\n\u2022 Alex Fowler scored 26 points on the day, adding five rebounds and three assists. She also matched her career high for 3-pointers made in a game with four.
\n\u2022 The win was Portland head coach Michael Meek’s 300th of his college career.
\n\u2022 Against the Lions, the Pilots held LMU to just 39 points, the fewest points they’ve allowed to a WCC team and NCAA Division I team this season. They also held them to just 23.7% shooting from the field.
\n\u2022 Fowler scored 10 points to become the Pilots’ all-time leading Division I scorer at 1,954 points. Her record-breaking weekend helped her earn WCC Player of the Week honors for the third time this year and 10th time in her career.
\n\u2022 Emme Shearer notched a double-double against LMU as well with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
\n\u2022 The Pilots lead the WCC in turnovers forced (17.50), steals per game (9.6), field-goal percentage (47.2%) and assists per game (17.3). Nationally, they’re 11th in field-goal percentage and 16th in assists per game.
\n\u2022 Fowler leads the WCC in field-goal percentage (61.8%), free throw attempts (121), free throws made (97), points per game (17.9) and total points (393). She is also seventh in assists per game (3.5) and total assists (77).
\n\u2022 Nationally, Fowler ranks 12th in field-goal percentage and 23rd in free throws made.
\n\u2022 Fowler is one of eight players in NCAA Division I averaging at least 17.5 points, five rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals a game this year.
\n\u2022 She was also named to the midseason watch list for the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats.
\n\u2022 The Pilots went 20-11 last season, finishing fourth in the WCC and qualifying for the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) for the first time since 2009.
\n\u2022 It is the first time that Portland has earned a .500 record or better three seasons in a row since 2009-11.
\n\u2022 It was also their fifth season as a Division I program winning at least 20 games and their second time in three seasons under head coach Michael Meek.
\n\u2022 The Pilots also earned their first win in the WNIT against Colorado State 72-63. It was also their first home win in a playoff game.
\n\u2022 They advanced to the second round before falling to the Oregon State Beavers.
\n\u2022 The Pilots finished the season ranked first in the WCC in both blocks (154) and blocks per game (18.2), second in scoring offense (70.6), assists (564), assists per game (18.2), assist to turnover ratio (1.11), turnovers forced (18.58), steals (340), steals per game (11.0) and field-goal percentage (43.6%) and third in scoring defense (62.0).
\n\u2022 Of the stats above, they ranked seventh nationally in assists per game, 15th in assists and steals per game, 16th in total steals, 17th in blocks per game and 20th in total blocked shots.
\n\u2022 In terms of All-WCC honors, Alex Fowler was named to the All-WCC First Team, Haylee Andrews made the second team and Lucy Cochrane earned honorable mention.
\n\u2022 Fowler became the first Pilot to make the All-WCC First Team three times since Laiken Dollente in 2010 and the first to make it three times in a row since Kristin Hepton in 1999.
\n\u2022 Fowler averaged 17.1 points and eight rebounds per contest, leading the WCC in field-goal percentage (53.1) and ranking third in field goals made (199), rebounds (249) and rebounds per game, fourth in total points (530) and fifth in points per game.
\n\u2022 Andrews suffered a leg injury late in the season, only playing 18 games. She still averaged 11.3 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per contest, with her assist average being first in the WCC.
\n\u2022 Despite her injury, Andrews finished 10th in the WCC in total assists, with the next closest player having played eight more games than her.
\n\u2022 Cochrane was an absolute force defensively, blocking 114 shots for an average of 3.9 per contest. Both of those totals led the NCAA.
\n\u2022 Both of those stats also set program records for both most blocks in a season and most blocks per game in a season.
\n\u2022 Per HerHoopStats.com, Cochrane is one of just 30 players in the last 12 seasons to average 3.9 blocks per contest and one of just 52 players to record at least 110 blocks in a season.
\n\u2022 Program-wise, Cochrane currently sits at sixth all-time in career blocks and fifth among those who only played NCAA Division I at 139.
\n\u2022 Fowler sits at 1,954 career points, which is first among Pilots who only played Division I (second all-time). She is fifth among all WCC players.
\n\u2022 Fowler is 16th among all NCAA Division I players in career points and ninth in field goals made (768). Her field goals made total is first among Pilots who only played Division I.
\n\u2022 Per HerHoopStats.com, Fowler is one of just nine players to put up at least 450 points and 200 boards in each of the last three seasons. She was also one of just 10 players to at least 17 points and eight rebounds per game last season on at least 50% shooting and one of nine players with at least 530 points and 240 rebounds on 50% shooting.
\n\u2022 Andrews is the only NCAA Division I player with at least 1,500 points, 550 assists, 500 rebounds and 150 steals.
\n\u2022 She ranks eighth among all NCAA Division I players in total assists at 593.
\n\u2022 Andrews is one of just three players in NCAA Division I since the 2018-19 season at have two seasons averaging at least 14 points, five assists, 4.5 rebounds and one steal per game. The other two players are Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu.
\n\u2022 She is also the only player to, from 2018-19 to 2020-21, put up three seasons with a total of 350 points, 120 rebounds, 120 assists and 30 steals. If she hadn’t been injured last season, Andrews was on pace for around 350 points, 175 assists, 145 rebounds and 62 steals, which only four other players did last season.
\n\u2022 Among the Pilots, Andrews is second all-time in total assists at 593, just 46 shy of breaking Kathy Adleman’s record. Her 5.2 assist average is also second all-time and she is fifth among Pilots who only played Division I basketball at 1,547 points.
\n\u2022 The Pilots were picked to finish second in the WCC in the annual WCC Preseason Coaches Poll. This is their highest such ranking since at least the 1990s.
\n\u2022 Fowler and Andrews were both named to the All-WCC Preseason Team, the third such year in a row that both players have been named to the team. No other Pilot duo has done that.
\n\u2022 14 of Portland’s 17 players from last year return this season, including 11 players who earned minutes last season and four of their top five scorers.
\n\u2022 Emme Shearer returns after finishing fifth in the WCC in steals (58) and steals per game.
\n\u2022 Maisie Burnham also returns after ending last season on a tear, averaging 13.5 points on 58% shooting (47.4% from three) in the final 13 games of the season.
\n\u2022 For newcomers, the Pilots added to their bevy of Oceana-based players by signing Florence Dallow and Melika Samia to the roster.
\n\u2022 Dallow, a redshirt, is a 6-foot guard our of New Zealand who played for the U14 and U16 New Zealand youth national teams that placed first and second respectively at the FIBA Oceania Championships. She played for North Harbour Representative Basketball Team from 2015-21 as well, with her team taking third at nationals in 2019 and 2020 and fourth in 2021.
\n\u2022 Samia has played for several New Zealand national teams, including taking part with the U16 select team in 2017 and 2018 and the Waikato U19 team in 2021. That U19 team won a national championship in 2021. She was also a part of the NBA Global Academy.<\/p>\n
THE COACHES<\/b><\/u>
\n\u2022 The Pilots are under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Michael Meek.
\n\u2022 Meek ranks 15th in career winning percentage (301-76, .798) among active NCAA
\ncoaches with 10-plus years of experience (not all at DI level).
\n\u2022 He held the best record for a UP coach through the first three seasons ever at 55-35.
\n\u2022 Tom Batsell has been an assistant coach with Meek for dating back to 2005, back when Meek was the head coach for Southridge High School. From 2005-10, the Skyhawks won six state championships.
\n\u2022 Assistant coach Skyler Young is the longest tenured coach on staff, having joined the Pilots after spending 19 years as a coach with several programs and professional teams.
\n\u2022 Fourth-year assistant coach Sharon Rissmiller (’01) is a Portland alum who starred on the court for the Pilots from 1997 to 2001; she still ranks 10th all-time with a .770 career free throw percentage, and she compiled 1,069 career points.<\/p>\n\n
ABOUT THE OPPONENT<\/b><\/u>
\n\u2022 The San Francisco Dons are 15-7 overall and 5-5 in WCC play while the Santa Clara Broncos are 13-10 overall and 4-6 in WCC play.
\n\u2022 The Dons are fifth in the WCC while the Broncos are sixth.
\n\u2022 Molly Goodenbour is in her seventh season as head coach of the Dons while Bill Carr is in his seventh with the Broncos.<\/p>\n
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