PORTLAND PILOTS (0-0, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 1: vs. UC San Diego / vs. Weber State

vs. UC San Diego Tritons (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
Day: Thursday
Date: Nov. 11, 2021
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 5 p.m.
Gym: Chiles Center
Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. UCSD
Overall: N/A •  Last 5/10: N/A
H: N/A •  A: N/A  •  N: N/A
Last: (N/A)

vs. Weber State Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 Big Sky)
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 13, 2021
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Gym: Chiles Center
Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. WEB
Overall: 4-9  •  Last 5/10: 2-3/2-8
H: 2-4 •  A: 2-5  •  N: 0-0
Last: POR 78, @WEB 59 (11/9/19)

THIS WEEK 
• The 2021-22 season for the Portland Pilots women's basketball team officially begins this week with a pair home games, first against the UC San Diego Tritons and again against the Weber State Wildcats.
• The Pilots will play the Tritons on Thursday, Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the men's team.
• The matchup against Weber State will take place on Saturday, Nov. 13 and is also a part of a doubleheader with the men's team. The women's game will tip off at 7:30 p.m.
• Online video streams and live stats for both contests will be available. Those links can be found at PortlandPilots.com.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots went 14-13 overall last season and finished 9-8 in WCC play, marking the second season in a row the team has finished above .500.
• It is the first time that Portland has earned back-to-back seasons above .500 since the 2010-11 season.
• The team also earned a postseason berth for the second year in a row, receiving an invite to play in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) for the third time in program history.
• It is the first time the Pilots have earned back-to-back postseason berths for the first time since 2010, when the team made both the WNIT and the WBI.
• Portland finished second in the WBI, marking their deepest postseason run since becoming an NCAA Division I program back in the 1986-87 season.
• The Pilots ranked first last season in both total assists (477) and assists per game as well as steals (284) in the WCC. They also ranked second in steals per game (10.5) and turnovers forced (18.9) and third in points per game (68.4) and field-goal percentage (44%).
• Of the stats above, they ranked 10th nationally in assists per game and 11th nationally in total steals and assists.
• The Pilots return nine players from last season as well as their top eight scorers.
• Among those returners are Alex Fowler and Haylee Andrews, who were both named to the All-WCC Preseason Team this season. It's the first time the Pilots have ever had two players named to the preseason team two years in a row.
• The Australian duo also were both named to the All-WCC First Team last year, becoming the first Pilot duo to earn the top honors since 2002.
• Andrews was one of the most dominant guards in the WCC last year, ranking fifth in the WCC in points per game (16.2) and first in assists (5.8).
• During just WCC play, Andrews led the conference in points per game (18.4) and assists (6.2). She is the first Pilot to ever lead the WCC in both and just the fourth player in WCC history to do so.
• Her 106 assists in WCC play was 26 more than the next closest player. She ranked ninth nationally in total asssist (152) and 12th in assists per game.
• Fowler finished third in the conference in scoring (16.8), fifth in total rebounds (200) and sixth in rebounds per game (7.4). She was also first in field goal attempts (336), field goals made (184) and field-goal percentage (54.8).
• That field-goal percentage for Fowler breaks her own Pilot record she set last season for field-goal percentage by a Pilot for a season at the DI level.
• A former WCC Newcomer of the Year winnner, she is the first Pilot to make back-to-back All-WCC First Teams since Natalie Day did so in 2010 and 2011.
• Andrews and Fowler are both all over the record books for the Pilots.
• Fowler is second all-time in field-goal percentage (54.7%), third in scoring average (17.5) and sixth in rebounding average (7.7).
• At her current rebounding pace of 227.5 rebounds per season, she is on track to break into the top 10 all-time in total rebounds.
• Andrews is fifth in assists all-time in program history among Pilots who only played Division I basketball (423). She is also second in assist average (5.1).
• Similar to Fowler, Andrews can break into the top two in career assists for a Pilot if she were to maintain her average of 141 asssists per season.
• Both Fowler and Andrews eclipsed the 1,000-point threshold for their careers last year, with Fowler being the fastest Pilot ever to the career mark.
• If both Fowler and Andrews -- who have 1,031 (27th) and 1,208 (17th) points respectively -- maintain their season scoring total averages (402.7 for Andrews, 515.2 for Fowler), they will each have a chance to break into the top five in scoring all-time for the Pilots.
• Among the other key returners is Maddie Muhlheim, who is the Pilots' career leader in three-pointers made at 227.
• Muhlheim broke the record in the WBI semifinal matchup against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. She hit six threes in the 80-65 win over NAU and had a team-high 22 points.
• Muhlheim also averaged a team-high 2.2 steals per game, which was fifth in the WCC.
• Emme Shearer was the only other Pilot to earn All-WCC honors last year, making the All-WCC Freshman Team. She averaged seven points a game along with two rebounds and 1.4 assists.
• Her 41 steals was tied for third on the team.

A HISTORIC 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 fourth-place finish was the highest in conference since 2010-11 (4th).
• 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 began the season 4-0 for only the third time ever in program history, and it was the first time since 2010-11.
• 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.

THE COACHES
• The Pilots are under the guidance of third-year head coach Michael Meek.
• Meek ranks seventh in career winning percentage (265-59, .818) among active DI coaches with five-plus years of experience.
• He has the best record for a UP coach through the first two seasons ever at 35-24.
• 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.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS 
• The UC San Diego Tritons were picked to finish seventh in the 2021-22 Big West Preseason Poll.
• This season will mark the second that the Tritons have played at the DI level.
• Head Coach Heidi VanDerveer is in her 10th season as head coach of the Tritons.
• The Weber State Wildcats were picked to finish 10th in the Big Sky Coaches Poll and 11th in the Big Sky Women's Basketball Media Poll.
• They finished last year with a 2-20 record. They have a combined 12 wins over the last three seasons after finishing with 21 wins in the 2017-18 season.
• The Wildcats will play the North Dakota on Tuesday, Nov. 9 before playing the Pilots.
• Velaida Harris is in her fourth year as head coach of the Wildcats.