PORTLAND PILOTS (10-2, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 8: at No. 18 BYU Cougars

at No. 18 BYU Cougars (10-1, 0-0 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Jan 1, 2022
Place: Provo, Utah
Time: 1:00 PM
Gym: Mariott Center
Online Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. BYU
Overall: 5-26 •  Last 5/10: 1-4/1-9
H: 2-13 •  A: 3-12 • N: 0-1
Last: POR 68, BYU 75 (Feb. 20, 2021)

THIS WEEK 
• The Portland Pilots will begin conference play this Saturday, Jan. 1 against the BYU Cougars in Provo, Utah.
• Tipoff for the game is set for 1 p.m. PT
• Links to a stream and live stats can be found at PortlandPilots.com.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Portland Pilots are 10-2 this season after taking down the Fresno State Bulldogs 67-50 at the Save Mart Center
• The 10-2 start makes this the first season since the 2007-08 season that the Pilots have had 10 wins heading into WCC play.
• Four Pilots scored in double digits against, with Alex Fowler putting up 17, Haylee Andrews scoring 11, and Emme Shearer and Lucy Cochrane each notching 10.
• Fowler's 17 led the Pilots in scoring, marking the 10th game where she's done so this year.
• Fowler leads the WCC in several stats, including field goals made (80), field-goal percentage (53.3) and total steals (26).
• Andrews, meanwhile, added nine rebounds and seven assists, coming up just shy yet again of a triple double. She currently leads the WCC in total assists (72) and assists per game (6.0).
• Both Fowler and Andrews have earrned WCC Player of the Week honors this year, winning the award in back-to-back weeks.
• Lucy Cochrane was a force defensivley, putting up four blocks against Fresno State. It's her seventh game with at least four blocks.
• As far back as 2000, she is the only Pilot to put up at least five blocks three games in a row. She is the first Pilot to have at least five blocks in three games in one season since Rachel Warren in 2006.
• Cochrane had nine blocks on Dec. 12 against Portland State. No Pilot in the 2000s has recorded more than seven blocks in a game. The Pilots as a team haven't had a game where they've blocked at least nine shots (Cochrane's total against Portland State) since 2015.
• Hailing from Melbourne, Cochrane is tied for first in the nation in blocks per game (4.0) and second in total blocks (44). She was the first Pilot to win WCC Player of the Week this year, doing so on Nov. 15.
• Portland leads the conference in several stats, including scoring margin (+17.6), steals per game (12.9), total steals (155), assists per game (19.8), total assists (238), total rebounds (514), rebounds per game (42.8) and turnover margin (+4.8).
• Of the stats above they are third nationally in total assists and assists per game, sixth in total steals and 11th in steals per game.
• 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 the WNIT and the WBI in back-to-back years.
• 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 (17.7) 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 Fowler and 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.
• Fowler is second all-time in field-goal percentage (54.5%), fourth in scoring average (17.3) and sixth in rebounding average (7.8).
• 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 this year.
• Andrews is fourth in assists all-time in program history among Pilots who only played Division I basketball (495). She is second in assist average (5.2).
• 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 assists 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 1,231 (17th) and 1,354 (T-10th) 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.
• Andrews is already among the top-10 scorers who only played DI basketball at eighth.
• Among the other key returners is Maddie Muhlheim, who is the Pilots' career leader in three-pointers who currently sits at 244 total.
• 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.
• She is averaging 2.1 steals per game through 11 games.

THE HEAD COACH
• The Pilots are under the guidance of third-year head coach Michael Meek.
• Meek ranks sixth in career winning percentage (275-61, .819) among active DI coaches with five-plus years of experience.
• He had the best record for a UP coach through the first two seasons ever at 35-24.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The No. 18 BYU Cougars are 10-1 and sit atop the WCC.
• They most recently beat the Montana State Bobcats on the road and have wins over two teams who were ranked in the AP Top 25 (West Virginia, Florida State) and three wins over Power 5 teams (Arizona State, Washington State, Utah).
• Jeff Judkins is in his 21st season as head coach of the Cougars.