PORTLAND PILOTS (6-1, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 4: vs. No. 18 Oregon Ducks

vs. No. 18 Oregon Ducks (3-3, 0-0 Pac-12)
Day: Saturday
Date: Dec. 4, 2021
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 6:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
TV: Portland's CW
Online Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. UO
Overall: 5-29  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/1-9
H: 5-10 •  A: 0-19  •  N: N/A
Last: @POR 52, UO 85 (Nov. 30, 2020)

THIS WEEK 
• The Portland Pilots will play their second ranked opponent of the year on Saturday, Dec. 4 when they welcome the No. 18 Oregon Ducks to the Chiles Center.
• Tipoff for the game is set for 6 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on Portland's CW.
• Links to a stream and live stats can be found at PortlandPilots.com as well as tickets.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Portland Pilots are 6-1 this season after defeating the Evergreen State Geoducks and the Warner Pacific Knights earlier this week.
• It's the best seven-game start for the Pilots since they went 6-1 to start the 1996-97 season.
• Five Pilots scored in double digits against the Geoducks, with three of those players -- Rose Pflug, Maisie Burnham and Liana Kaitu'u -- coming off the bench.
• Portland recorded a season-high 58 rebounds, which is the second highest rebound total they've had since 2004.
• The Pilots 97 points marked the third game this year where they've scored at least 90 points. It was the first time they'd done that in the first six games since 1983.
• Portland followed that up with a gritty 70-49 win over the Warner Pacific Knights
• They forced an impressive 39 turnovers and earned 27 steals, the second-most ever in program history. They scored 41 points off those turnovers.
• For the first time in program history, the Pilots have held four different opponents under 50 points through the first seven games.
• Alex Fowler led the Pilots in scoring in that game and has done so in the last four games. She's averaging 16.8 points per game and 8.3 rebounds over the last four contests.
• Haylee Andrews has also stood out during the first few weeks of play, currently leading the conference in assists per game (5.9), total assists (41) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4).
• Lucy Cochrane has been the top shot-blocker in the WCC, averaging a conference-leading 2.7 blocks per contest.
• Cochrane earned WCC Player of the Week honors earlier this year after averaging 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks through the first two weeks.
• Portland leads the conference in several stats, including points per game (78.7), scoring margin (+21.6), steals per game (14.9), total steals (104), assists per game (20.3), total assists (142), three-point defense (23.7%), rebounds per game (42.6), total rebounds (298), turnovers forced per game (25.4) and turnover margin (+7).
• Of the stats above they are second nationally in assiststs per game, third in steals per game, and sixth in tootal steals and turnovers forced.
• 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 (54.3%), fifth in scoring average (17.2) and sixth in rebounding average (7.6).
• 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 (464). 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 1,134 (21st) and 1,283 (14th) 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 who currently sits at 241 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 3.1 steals per game through six games.

THE HEAD COACH
• The Pilots are under the guidance of third-year head coach Michael Meek.
• Meek ranks seventh in career winning percentage (271-60, .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 Oregon Ducks are 3-3 on the season, most recently losing to the UC Davis Aggies.
• The loss snapped a 44-game nonconference home win streak for the Ducks.
• Kelly Graves -- who served as an assistant at the University of Portland from 1992-97 and was the head coach at Saint Mary's and Gonzaga -- is in his eighth season with the Ducks.