PORTLAND PILOTS (2-1, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 2: at San Diego State/UC San Diego

at San Diego State Aztecs (3-1, 0-0 MWC)
Day: Friday
Date: Nov. 18, 2022
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Time: 6 p.m.
Gym: Viejas Arena
Online Video/Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. SDSU
Overall: 2-0 •  Last 5/10: 2-0/2-0
H: 0-0 •  A: 0-0  •  N: 2-0
Last: POR 59, SDSU 58 (2011-12)
 

at UC San Diego (0-2, 0-0 Big West)
Day: Sunday
Date: Nov. 20, 2022
Place: La Jolla, Calif.
Time: 7 p.m.
Gym: LionTree Arena
Online Video/Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. UCSD
Overall: 1-0 •  Last 5/10: 1-0/1-0
H: 1-0 •  A: 0-0  •  N: 0-0
Last: @POR 91, UCSD 48 (11/11/21)

THIS WEEK
• The Portland Pilots are headed to southern California for showdowns against the San Diego State Aztecs and the UC San Diego Tritons.
• They play the Aztecs on Friday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. and the Tritons on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.
• An online video stream and live stats for will be available. Those links can be found at PortlandPilots.com.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are 2-1 on the year with wins against the Willamette Bearcats and Hawaii Rainbow Wahine and a loss to the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal.
• In the most recent game against the Cardinal, Liana Kaitu'u led the Pilots with 13 points and a career-high seven made free throws.
• Kaitu'u put up a career-high 20 points  earlier in the win against Willamette, along with seven rebounds.
• Alex Fowler and Maisie Burnham also added 17 points each in that one while Emme Shearer scored 10. Burnham grabbed nine boards as well.
• Burnham followed her 17-point outing with a 22-point one against Hawaii, which is just three points shy of her career high.
• Fowler also stuffed the staff sheet, scoring 18 points with nine assists, six rebounds, five steals and two blocks against the Rainbow Wahine.
• Her nine assists are a career high and her five steals also matched a career high.
• Per HerHoopStats.com, only two players this year, including Fowler, have put up an equivalent stat line to Fowler's in the Hawaii game.
• Portland's 92 points against Willamette was the most in a season opener since the 1992-93 season.
• Through three games, the PIlots are first in the WCC in assists per game (17.7) and turnovers forced per game (19.0) and rank second in steals per game (10.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.13)
• Individually, Kaitu'u leads the conference in field-goal percentage (71.4%) and Fowler leads the WCC in free throws made (18) while ranking htird in both total assists (14) and assists per game (4.7).
• The Pilots went 20-11 last season, finishing fourth in the WCC and qualifying for the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) for the first time since 2009.
• It is the first time that Portland has earned a .500 record or better three seasons in a row since 2009-11.
• It was also their fifth season as a Division I program winning at least 20 games and their second time in three seasons under head coach Michael Meek.
• The Pilots also earned their first win in the WNIT against Colorado State 72-63. It was also their first home win in a playoff game.
• They advanced to the second round before falling to the Oregon State Beavers.
• The Pilots finished the season ranked first in the WCC in both blocks (154) and blocks per game (18.2), second in scoring offense (70.6), assists (564), assists per game (18.2), assist to turnover ratio (1.11), turnovers forced (18.58), steals (340), steals per game (11.0) and field-goal percentage (43.6%) and third in scoring defense (62.0).
• Of the stats above, they ranked seventh nationally in assists per game, 15th in assists and steals per game, 16th in total steals, 17th in blocks per game and 20th in total blocked shots.
• In terms of All-WCC honors, Alex Fowler was named to the All-WCC First Team, Haylee Andrews made the second team and Lucy Cochrane earned honorable mention.
• Fowler became the first Pilot to make the All-WCC First Team three times since Laiken Dollente in 2010 and the first to make it three times in a row since Kristin Hepton in 1999.
• Fowler averaged 17.1 points and eight rebounds per contest, leading the WCC in field-goal percentage (53.1) and ranking third in field goals made (199), rebounds (249) and rebounds per game, fourth in total points (530) and fifth in points per game.
• Andrews suffered a leg injury late in the season, only playing 18 games. She still averaged 11.3 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per contest, with her assist average being first in the WCC.
• Despite her injury, Andrews finished 10th in the WCC in total assists, with the next closest player having played eight more games than her.
• Cochrane was an absolute force defensively, blocking 114 shots for an average of 3.9 per contest. Both of those totals led the NCAA.
• Both of those stats also set program records for both most blocks in a season and most blocks per game in a season.
• Per HerHoopStats.com, Cochrane is one of just 30 players in the last 12 seasons to average 3.9 blocks per contest and one of just 52 players to record at least 110 blocks in a season.
• Cochrane also sits at sixth all-time in career blocks and fifth among those who only played NCAA Division I. If she matched her pace set last season, she would become the all-time shot-blocking leader among Pilots who played Division I basketball only.
• Fowler and Andrews have also put together impressive statistical resumes.
• Fowler sits at 1,602 career points and is just 351 points away from tying the school record for most points in a career at the NCAA Division I level. She is currently tied for third in program history (DI level).
• The forward is also fourth all-time in career rebounds among Division I players, just 34 rebounds shy of the record at 714 boards.
• Per HerHoopStats.com, Fowler is one of just nine players to put up at least 450 points and 200 boards in each of the last three seasons. She was also one of just 10 players to at least 17 points and eight rebounds per game last season on at least 50% shooting and one of nine players with at least 530 points and 240 rebounds on 50% shooting.
• Andrews is the only NCAA Division I player returning with career totals of at least 1,400 points, 450 rebounds, 500 assists and 100 steals.
• She ranks fifth among Division I players in career assist average at 5.2 and sixth in total assists at 525.
• Andrews is one of just three players in NCAA Division I since the 2018-19 season at have two seasons averaging at least 14 points, five assists, 4.5 rebounds and one steal per game. The other two players are Iowa's Caitlin Clark and Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu.
• She is also the only player to, from 2018-19 to 2020-21, put up three seasons with a total of 350 points, 120 rebounds, 120 assists and 30 steals. If she hadn't been injured last season, Andrews was on pace for around 350 points, 175 assists, 145 rebounds and 62 steals, which only four other players did last season.
• Among the Pilots, Andrews is second all-time in total assists at 525, just 114 shy of breaking Kathy Adleman's record. Her 5.2 assist average is also second all-time and she is sixth among Pilots who only played Division I basketball at 1,411 points.
• The Pilots were picked to finish second in the WCC in the annual WCC Preseason Coaches Poll. This is their highest such ranking since at least the 1990s.
• Fowler and Andrews were both named to the All-WCC Preseason Team, the third such year in a row that both players have been named to the team. No other Pilot duo has done that.
• 14 of Portland's 17 players from last year return this season, including 11 players who earned minutes last season and four of their top five scorers.
• Emme Shearer returns after finishing fifth in the WCC in steals (58) and steals per game.
• Maisie Burnham also returns after ending last season on a tear, averaging 13.5 points on 58% shooting (47.4% from three) in the final 13 games of the season.
• For newcomers, the Pilots added to their bevy of Oceana-based players by signing Florence Dallow and Melika Samia to the roster.
• Dallow is a 6-foot guard our of New Zealand who played for the U14 and U16 New Zealand youth national teams that placed first and second respectively at the FIBA Oceania Championships. She played for North Harbour Representative Basketball Team from 2015-21 as well, with her team taking third at nationals in 2019 and 2020 and fourth in 2021.
• Samia has played for several New Zealand national teams, including taking part with the U16 select team in 2017 and 2018 and the Waikato U19 team in 2021. That U19 team won a national championship in 2021. She was also a part of the NBA Global Academy.

THE COACHES
• The Pilots are under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Michael Meek.
• Meek ranks 15th in career winning percentage (287-71, .802) among active DI coaches with 10-plus years of experience.
• He has the best record for a UP coach through the first three seasons ever at 55-35.
• Tom Batsell has been an assistant coach with Meek for dating back to 2005, back when Meek was the head coach for Southridge High School. From 2005-10, the Skyhawks won six state championships.
• Assistant coach Skyler Young is the longest tenured coach on staff, having joined the Pilots after spending 19 years as a coach with several programs and professional teams.
• Fourth-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 San Diego State Aztecs are 3-1 on the season, winning three straight after starting the year with a loss to No. 2 Stanford.
• They've posted an varegge winning margin of 39.3 duirng the win streak and have posted back-to-back 50+ point wins for the first time since 1984.
• SDSU is currently second in the Mountain West in scoring defense (52.5), field-goal percentage (34.2%) and rebounds per game (42.5).
• They are led by Sophia Ramo, one of three players in the nation with career totals of 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 400 assists.
• UC San Diego, meanwhile, is 0-2 on the season.
• Their losses came to California Baptis and Northern Arizona.
• Last year, the Pilots stifled the Tritons 91-48 in their season opener at home.
• Stacie Terry-Hutson is in her ninth season as head coach of the Aztecs while Heidi VanDerveer is in her 11th season as head coach of the Tritons.