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The Pilots are dancing at the WNIT.

Women's Basketball

Pilots Make WNIT for First Time since 2009

PORTLAND, Ore. – After a stellar season, University of Portland women's basketball will play in the upcoming Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). It's the third time in three years since Michael Meek took over as head coach that the Pilots have earned an invitation to play in a postseason tournament.

This is just the third time in program history and the first time since the 2008-09 season that the Pilots have been invited to play in the WNIT. The Pilots also made the tournament back in the 1998-99 season. In both of their prior appearances, the Pilots did not advance past the first round. The Pilots have earned 10 bids, including this year, to play in the postseason since transitioning to NCAA Division I back in the 1986-87 season, but have only officially played in eight tournaments due to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Meek has led the Pilots to a postseason appearance in each of his three years at the helm, being the only coach in program history to do so in his first three years. The Pilots earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship in 2020 after making a miraculous run to win the WCC Tournament, but the national tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pilots also made their deepest run in any postseason event at the Division I level last season when they advanced to the finals of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) before losing to the Cleveland State Vikings 67-64 in the championship.

The WNIT is a 64-team tournament for teams who experienced strong seasons but did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The WNIT will start on Wednesday, March 16 and run until the championship on Saturday, April 2. While the full field of teams has been announced, the bracket itself will be released tomorrow at 11 a.m. PT with seedings and matchups. All Round 1 games are played at individual schools.

The Pilots finished the season 19-10 overall and 8-7 in WCC regular season play, finishing fourth in the conference. That record was their best through 29 games since the 1997-98 season. This is the second time in Meek's three years that the Pilots have finished in the top five of the conference.

Portland had several standout individual performers over the course of the season. Alex Fowler was named to the All-WCC First Team for the third year in a row, becoming just the third Pilot in school history to achieve that honor and the second to do so in consecutive years. Fowler finished fourth in the conference in points per game at 17.4 and rebounds at 7.8 and led the WCC in field-goal percentage at 54.1%. She also became the sixth Pilot in program history to score 1,500 points in her career, ranking sixth all-time at 1,535.

Haylee Andrews also made the All-WCC Second Team despite a season-ending knee injury. She led the WCC in assists per game at 5.7 and also finished 10th in total assists. Lucy Cochrane earned All-WCC honorable mention after breaking the school record for blocks in a season at 110. She currently leads the nation in blocks per game at 4.1.

Stay tuned to PortlandPilots.com to get more information on how to follow the Pilots in the WNIT.

Portland Women's Basketball Postseason History (NCAA)
  • 1994 NCAA Tournament (1st Round Loss to USC – 77-62)
  • 1995 NCAA Tournament (1st Round Loss to Purdue – 74-59)
  • 1996 NCAA Tournament (1st Round Loss to Texas Tech – 61-78)
  • 1997 NCAA Tournament (1st Round Loss to Michigan State – 75-70 (OT))
  • 1999 WNIT (1st Round Loss to Washington – 67-63)
  • 2009 WNIT (1st Round Loss to Portland State – 57-51)
  • 2010 WBI (1st Round Loss to Washington – 44-75)
  • 2020 NCAA Tournament (Canceled due to COVID-19)
  • 2021 WBI (Championship Loss to Cleveland State – 67-64)
  • 2022 WNIT (TBD)



 
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