PORTLAND PILOTS (2-1, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 3: vs. Northwest / at Washington
 
vs. Northwest Eagles (0-0)
Day: Friday
Date: Dec. 11, 2020
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 6 p.m.
Gym: Chiles Center
Online: Video I Stats
 
POR vs. NU
Overall: 0-0 •  Last 5/10: 0-0/0-0
H: 0-0  •  A: 0-0  •  N: 0-0
Last: N/A
 
at Washington Huskies (3-1, 1-1 Pac-12)
Day: Sunday
Date: Dec. 13, 2020
Place: Seattle, Wash.
Time: 2 p.m.
Gym: Alaska Airlines Arena
Online: Video I Stats
 
POR vs. UW
Overall: 1-15 •  Last 5/10: 1-4/1-9
H: 0-5  •  A: 1-9  •  N: 0-1
Last: UW 97, POR 63 (12/3/17)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots play a pair of recent additions to the schedule this week, first hosting Northwest University at the Chiles Center on Friday night before traveling to Seattle on Sunday to play the Washington Huskies.
• Tip-off for the Pilots and Eagles on Friday is set for 6 p.m. on The Bluff, while Sunday's contest against the Huskies is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena.
• Online video streams and live stats for both games are available, and links for those can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Sophomore forward Alex Fowler is the reigning WCC Player of the Week after averaging 16.0 points during Portland's two games; this is the fourth career weekly conference honor for Fowler, and the first one this season.
• Fowler's week included a 20-point performance during a win over Seattle U, and she netted 12 against the No. 9 Oregon Ducks; against the Redhawks, Fowler made all five of her field goal attempts in the second half, she shot 7-for-13 overall, connected on all six of her free throws, and added six rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
• Both of Portland's wins this season have come against Seattle U by similar scores as the Pilots won 82-70 in Seattle on Nov. 25 and 80-68 last Sunday at the Chiles Center.
• Twice this season the Pilots have collected more than 20 assists in a game (22 at SU, 24 vs. SU) and they rank 20th in the nation averaging 19.0 dimes per contest.
• Individually, junior point guard Haylee Andrews is No. 15 nationally and ranks first in the WCC with a 6.5 assists per game mark.
• The Pilots, who are led by second-year head coach Michael Meek, are coming off a historical season as Portland made a magical run at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., to win the West Coast Conference Tournament Championship and earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
• It was a the first WCC Tourney title for the Pilots since 1994, and Portland would have made their first appearance at March Madness since 1997, had the tourney not been cancelled due to COVID.
• The Pilots were picked to finish third in the WCC this season in the preseason coaches poll, and they received a first-place vote; only Gonzaga and BYU finished ahead of the Pilots.
• Andrews and Fowler were both voted to the Preseason All-WCC Team.
• Andrews and Fowler are two of four returning starters for the Pilots, who lost only graduated senior Kate Andersen from the starting five.
• Last year the Pilots lead the league in scoring (69.5), field goal percentage (.449), assists (16.2), and three-point percentage defense (.267).
• Fowler is coming off perhaps one of the best seasons in program history; the forward led the conference in scoring with an 18.0 points per game mark, she was named the WCC's Newcomer of the Year, was voted to the All-WCC First Team, was tabbed the WCC Tournament MVP, and she joined Andrews on the all-tournament team.
• Her .539 career field goal percentage and 17.9 points per game career mark rank No. 1 on Portland's all-time single season charts since the Pilots began playing at the NCAA DI level in 1986; all-time, Fowler is second in program history in both categories.
• Andrews is No. 10 all-time at UP in career points per game (13.6), and she's 11th with a career field goal percentage of .475.
• Senior sharpshooter Maddie Muhlheim ranks third all-time at UP with 187 career three-pointers; Deana Lansing holds the school career record with 223 three's.
• As a sophomore in 2018-19, Muhlheim she set a program single-game record when she hit nine three's against USD.
• Coach Meek ranks fourth in career winning percentage (253-47, .843) among active coaches with five-plus years of experience at all divisions of women's college basketball.
• Last Sunday's game vs. Seattle U was No. 300 as a head coach for Meek.
• Second-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.
 
A HISTORICAL SEASON
• 2019-20 was a season of milestones for the Pilots as then first-year head coach Michael Meek led the team to a 21-11 overall record for the program's first 20-win season since 1996-97.
• Portland went 11-7 in the WCC to finish fourth, and this came after the Pilots were selected 10th in the preseason coaches poll.
• You have to go back to 1996-97 to find a season with more conference wins for the program; that year the Pilots went a perfect 14-0 in league play when the WCC featured just eight teams.
• The Portland faithful flooded to the Chiles Center last year to support the Pilots, and 2019-20 featured two of the biggest crowds in program history.
• The 1,772 that came to the game vs. San Francisco on Feb. 15 was the fifth biggest crowd ever, and the contest with Gonzaga on Feb. 29 featured the sixth largest crowd at 1,709.
• The Pilots swept the regular season series vs. Saint Mary's for the first time since 2008-09.
• On Jan. 4, the Pilots won 57-48 at BYU, ending a 20-game losing streak to the Cougars; it was the first win for Portland over BYU since the 1998-99 season.
• The wins at USF and SCU (Jan 16-18) marked the first WCC weekend road sweep for the Pilots since 2009-10 (also at USF & SCU).
• The Pilots saved perhaps their best performance for Las Vegas when they stormed through the WCC Tournament to claim the title for the first time since 1994.
• The tourney featured wins over three teams that swept the Pilots during the regular season: Pacific (Quarterfinals), No. 11 Gonzaga (Semifinals), San Diego (Finals).
• The win over the No. 11 Zags was the Pilots first win in the series since defeating Gonzaga in 2009 in Spokane, a stretch of 23 straight Bulldog wins.
• It was also the first win over a ranked opponent since topping the No. 24 San Diego Toreros at the Chiles Center in 2014.
• By winning the WCC, the Pilots claimed their first berth to the NCAA Tournament since 1997.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• Northwest University is an NAIA school located in Kirkland, Wash., and the Eagles play in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
• Last year the Eagles went 10-21 overall, and Sam Van Loo (12.3 ppg) is the team's top returning scorer.
• Head coach Ken Crawford is in his seventh year at the helm of the Eagles.
• The Washington Huskies sit at 3-1 entering a Friday home game against Washington State.
• The Huskies are averaging 67.0 points per game and are allowing 60.8.
• Tameiya Sadler is one of two Huskies scoring in a double digits, and she leads the team in both points (16.0) and rebounds (5.8).
• Jody Wynn is in her fourth year as UW head coach.