PORTLAND PILOTS (12-4, 2-2 WCC)
WEEK 12: at San Diego/Pepperdine

at San Diego Toreros (10-8, 2-4 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Jan 27, 2022
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Time: 5:00 PM
Gym: Jenny Craig Pavilion
Online Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. USD
Overall: 35-46  •  Last 5/10: 1-4/3-7
H: 18-18  •  A: 11-24  •  N: 6-4
Last: POR 59, @USD 66 (Feb. 18, 2021)

at Pepperdine Waves (5-9, 1-4 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Jan. 29, 2022
Place: Malibu, Calif.
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Gym: Firestone Fieldhouse
Online Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. PEP
Overall: 34-38  •  Last 5/10: 5-0/8-2
H: 22-12  •  A: 11-24  •  N: 1-2
Last: @POR 101, PEP 94 OT (Feb. 27, 2021)

THIS WEEK 
• The Portland Pilots are headed to Southern California for road matchups against the San Diego Toreros and the Pepperdine Waves.
• They'll face the Toreros on Thursday at 5 p.m. and the Waves on Saturday at 2 p.m.
• Links to a stream and live stats for both games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Portland Pilots are 12-4 on the season and 2-2 in WCC play after a thrilling overtime victory over the Santa Clara Broncos.
• The win was Portland's first overtime victory of the season.
• Their 12-4 record gives Portland their best record through 16 games since the 1996-97 season.
• Alex Fowler shined in this one, putting up a season-high 32 points along with 13 rebounds. 10 of her 32 points came in overtime.
• Fowler's double-double was her third of the season, and her stellar performance helped her earn WCC Player of the Week for the second time this season.
• Fowler is first in the WCC in field-goal percentage (55.8), second in field goals made (115) and third in points per game (17.9) and rebounds per game (8.0).
• Haylee Andrews added a double-double of her own with 10 points and 10 assists, her third of the season. She also added seven rebounds and five steals.
• Andrews is the one of only three active four-year players who have career totals of 1,300 points, 450 rebounds, 350 assists and 100 steals. She also leads the WCC in total assists (97) and assists per game (6.1).
• Among other notable accomplishments from this game, Maddie Muhlheim became the 30th Pilot to score 1,000 points for her career, doing so in the first quarter with a three.
• Lucy Cochrane has been a force defensively, leading the WCC in total blocks (52) and blocks per game (3.7). Those numbers rank seventh and second in the nation respectively.
• 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 only Pilot in the 2000s to have five blocks in four different games, most recently doing so against San Francisco.
• Cochrane had nine blocks on Dec. 12 against Portland State. No Pilot in the 2000s 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 since 2015.
• Portland ranks second in the conference in points per game (72.7), assiststs per game (18.9), steals per game (11.8) and blocks per game (4.9). They are also third in points allowed (60.1).
• Nationally, Portland's assist average ranks eighth.
• 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 (54.9%), third in scoring average (17.6) and sixth in rebounding average (7.8).
• In Portland's bout against Santa Clara, Fowler broke into the top 10 among Pilots who only played Division I basketball in both career points (eighth at 1,317) and rebounds (eighth at 583).
• Andrews is second in assists all-time in program history among Pilots who only played Division I basketball (520). She is second in assist average (5.3). Andrews is fourth in assists all-time
• 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 1,317 (12th) and 1,397 (7th) 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 five scorers who only played DI basketball at fifth.
• Among the other key returners is Muhlheim, who is the Pilots' career leader in three-pointers who currently sits at 252 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.
• 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.
• Shearer took WCC Freshman of the Week honors earlier this season.

THE HEAD COACH
• The Pilots are under the guidance of third-year head coach Michael Meek.
• Meek ranks seventh in career winning percentage (277-63, .815) among active DI coaches with 5-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 San Diego Toreros are 10-8 this year while the Pepperdine Waves are 4-8.
• San Diego most recently took lost to BYU while the Waves fell to the Pacific Tigers.
• Cindy Fisher is in her 17th season as head coach of the Toreros while Kristen Dowling is in her third in charge of Pepperdine.