SAN MATEO, Calif. – The West Coast Conference officially announced the conference schedules for all WCC women's basketball programs on Wednesday, including the Portland Pilots. The Pilots will play 18 WCC games this season – with nine at home and nine on the road – and will face three opponents who played postseason basketball this past season.
Portland will begin their first weekend of conference play with two road games. First, they'll travel to Los Angeles on Dec. 30 to take on the Loyola Marymount Lions, who knocked the Pilots out of the WCC Tournament in the second round last season. Portland did, however, beat the Lions both times during the regular season.
The Pilots will then head to Provo, Utah to play the BYU Cougars on Jan. 1. BYU finished with an impressive 19-6 record last season, winning their only contest against Portland 75-68. The Cougars played in the NCAA Tournament last season and finished second in the WCC. They won the WCC Tournament back in 2019 and have made six appearances in the NCAA Tournament since 2012.
Following the pair of road games, Portland will return home to the Chiles Center for a Jan. 6 matchup against Gonzaga. The Bulldogs have been crowned the WCC Regular Season champions the last five seasons and have won the conference tournament three times since 2017. They have made the NCAA Tournament four times since 2017, including this past season. They also finished tops in the WCC in both the regular season and the WCC Tournament.
Portland will be back on the road immediately after the Gonzaga game, heading to Moraga, Calif. for their game against the Saint Mary's Gaels on Jan. 8 to finish off the weekend. The following week, they'll get two home games against the San Francisco Dons (Jan. 13) and the Pacific Tigers (Jan. 15) before hitting the road for a rematch against Gonzaga on Jan. 20. San Francisco finished third in the WCC standings last season and made their third-ever appearance at the WNIT, which was also their first postseason appearance since 2016. They split their two games with the Pilots last season.
On Jan. 22, Portland will take on Santa Clara at the Chiles Center before spending next weekend in California with games against the San Diego Toreros (Jan. 27) and the Pepperdine Waves (Jan. 29). The Pilots were swept by both Santa Clara and San Diego, but they beat the Waves in both contests in the 2020-21 season.
The Pilots get to enjoy a three-game homestand to start February, their longest homestand in conference play. They'll tip things off with rematches against BYU and Loyola Marymount on Feb. 3 and Feb. 5 respectively. The Feb. 3 matchup will be a doubleheader with the men's team. They will then play Saint Mary's – who the Pilots have beaten four straight times since the 2019-20 season – to end the homestand on Feb. 10.
After that, the Pilots will play their final three road games of the regular season, starting on Saturday, Feb. 12 against Pacific. Their final two road games will take them to northern California, where they'll play San Francisco on Feb. 17 before heading to Santa Clara to play the Broncos on Feb. 19.
The Pilots close their season out with a pair of home games, playing San Diego on Feb. 24 and Pepperdine on Feb. 26. The Pilots also played the Waves in their home finale last season, winning that matchup 102-94 in a thrilling overtime showdown.
The 2022 UCU WCC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will take place March 3-8 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
The Pilots finished 14-13 overall and sixth in the WCC after last year's COVID-affected season. They also took home second at the 2021 Women's Basketball Invitational in Kentucky. They return nine players including the top eight scorers from last year's squad and add eight newcomers to the roster.
Portland women's basketball season tickets, group packages and youth team experiences are available now. For more ticket information, visit
PortlandPilots.com or call Dave Taylor at (503) 943-8619 to sign up for season tickets or reserve a group experience today.
2021-22 Portland Women's Basketball WCC Schedule
Dec. 30 at LMU
Jan. 1 at BYU
Jan. 6 vs. Gonzaga
Jan. 8 at Saint Mary's
Jan. 13 vs. San Francisco
Jan. 15 vs. Pacific
Jan. 20 at Gonzaga
Jan. 22 vs. Santa Clara
Jan. 27 at San Diego
Jan. 29 at Pepperdine
Feb. 3 vs. BYU
Feb. 5 vs. LMU
Feb. 10 vs. Saint Mary's
Feb. 12 at Pacific
Feb. 17 at San Francisco
Feb. 19 at Santa Clara
Feb. 24 vs. San Diego
Feb. 26 vs. Pepperdine
Home games are in bold
