THE PILOTS ARE DANCING! Congratulations 2020 WCC Champions!

up7587 wrote:

What about WrestleMania?

They are going to have to fake wrestle 10 feet away from each other.

up7587 wrote:With no March Madness to watch now, at least NASCAR will still be on TV.
nascar-to-run-atlanta-homestead-without-spectators

Not anymore...

NASCAR and Indy Car both cancel!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davecaldwell/2020/03/13/nascar-postpones-two-races-because-of-coronavirus-indycar-cancels-four-races/#3c6f452e1332

Formula 1 has also canceled for the foreseeable future...

https://www.sportingnews.com/au/motorsports/news/coronavirus-formula-one-bahrain-vietnam-grands-prix-postponed-amid-covid-19-crisis/3irgistok53a1xvl6o23fwj3k

Back to our Pilots. Story from the O:
https://www.oregonlive.com/pilots/2020/03/for-portland-pilots-womens-basketball-euphoria-is-fleeting-as-ncaa-tournament-is-canceled.html

That was nice. Here’s  bit more.

And Coach Meek on Canzano's show:
https://soundcloud.com/kxtg-the-bald-faced-truth/bft-interview-michael-meek

Franz Hall on the UP campus has never looked better...

Kate Andersen wrote:“It was kind of sad because we didn’t realize that our season was over,” senior Kate Andersen said. “I didn’t realize that playing USD was our last game and I didn’t realize that playing USD was my last game as a senior, like, the very last game I was going to play in that uniform.”

https://www.upbeacon.com/article/2020/03/coronavirus-covid-womens-basketball-march-madness-portland-pilots

Not a starter, but a fan favorite, a great contributor and part of the glue that holds the team together is Jayce (JC) Gorzeman from Las Cruces.

This article about the former all-state player and state of New Mexico leading scorer from the Las Cruces Sun includes a video of some of her tournament highlights.

https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/sports/2020/03/19/coronavirus-scare-ends-cinderella-season-former-mayfield-standout/2867160001/

She had a great tournament.

Gorzeman has quick hands and feet, gave multiple guards trouble bringing up the ball.

Losing Kate Anderson will be tough.

But there is reason to be optimistic.

Go Pilots.

Since I did not follow the women closely most of the year, DD please tell us more about the players who were lost for the season with injuries. Are full recoveries expected? I believe one was a starter until she got hurt?

up7587 wrote:Since I did not follow the women closely most of the year, DD please tell us more about the players who were lost for the season with injuries.  Are full recoveries expected?  I believe one was a starter until she got hurt?

The team’s star players are pretty well known, but there were a number of unsung heroes (heroines?) this season, namely freshman Keeley Frawley, and juniors Jayce Gorzeman and Lauren Walker.

The starter that went down with a torn knee at Air Force was sophomore Liana Kaitu’u, but it was the emergence of Walker with backup from Frawley and Gorzeman that made all the difference in the season, IMO, as they collectively filled the position left open when Kaitu’u was injured.

Walker is tall, 6-5, but that’s all she was before being thrown into the mix as a starter and developing with each practice and game to provide a high and low post presence with Alex Fowler.

Kaitu’u qualifies for a medical redshirt and will return as a sophomore next season along with fellow injured players, junior transfer Rose Pflug and junior Josie Matz, both of whom also qualify for medical hardship waivers. Kaitu’u and Pflug will both vie for starting spots next season, but regardless of who starts, they both should see playing time on a roster that, on paper, looks loaded for next season…barring even more injuries.

The spark of the team, Haylee Andrews, will probably always have to fight a chronic bad ankle that occasionally limited her minutes all season.  She sustained a broken rib at Fresno St. and exacerbated the injury at Air Force when she again dove on a ball, but she still played over 30 minutes per game.  And Alex Fowler fought off freshman fatigue and illness all season to also average over 30 minutes per game while leading the WCC in scoring.

The one injured player who could not return, and eventually had to leave the team, is junior Erika Kankfelt from Finland.  Erika sat behind the bench and rooted on her friends and former teammates all season, but just had so many bad luck injuries over three seasons that her basketball career was sadly over this past December. Fortunately, UP will continue to pay for her education, but her scholarship will not count against the athletic department’s budgeted allocation.

Too many injuries, but as Haylee said, “It’s been next man up all season and we still won the Tournament Championship.”

Stuck inside and in need of something to keep you jumping up and down and cheering for the rest of the year?

Well, here's the answer to your need, and your chance to keep going down memory lane too.

https://spark.adobe.com/page/FZ8fGWKvjnfh9/

Kate Andersn was the lone senior on the Pilots team this season...

The 22-year-old now focuses her attention on turning pro to play overseas in Australia or Europe.

https://www.kptv.com/news/it-s-been-a-real-good-ride-portlands-kate-anderson-on-making-the-ncaa-tournament/article_498047fc-76f3-11ea-96e0-17be82d79eda.html

Here's a preseason picture of "old" Kate (with the ball) just "fed-up" with all the youngsters around her...

Kind of an odd question at this time, but I don’t have working knowledge of the WCC’s agreements anymore. Would we have been guaranteed a larger share of any of the WCC’s NCAA Tournament prize money for having qualified? Or was that only applied to the men’s side?

Mike Meek, an interview with Andy Katz...Katz Chats #WCCHOOPS

https://twitter.com/i/status/1252676441537380353

Cleaning out my inbox this morning I ran across another nice article from Paul Danzer about the Pilots:

Meek reflects back on Pilots' wild ride...

https://pamplinmedia.com/nbg/145-sports/461289-374396-meek-reflects-back-on-pilots-wild-ride

Excellence on the court and in the classroom...

Eight months later, in a VERY informal ceremony that included a box lunch, the team received their rings today...

Well, a year later they are not exactly dancing, but they are in an 8-team postseason tournament in Kentucky...

UP Athletics wrote:University of Portland has accepted an invitation to the 2021 Women's Basketball Invitational postseason tournament as the eight-team field was announced on Monday. The tournament is scheduled for March 19-21 and hosted at the William Exum Center on the campus of Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky.

The Pilots will open the tournament against Abilene Christian on Friday, March 19 at 2 p.m. (PT). The winner will advance to face the winner of Florida International and Northern Arizona on Saturday. The other side of the bracket features Cleveland State vs. Manhattan and Loyola-Chicago vs. Longwood.

All eight teams are guaranteed to play three games in the bracketed tournament. There will be no fans allowed, but all games will have live video and live statistics

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2021/3/15/womens-basketball-womens-hoops-accepts-invitation-to-postseason-wbi.aspx

The Pilots started fast, 21-7 in the first quarter, and never looked back as they won a very sloppy game against Abilene Christian, 67-42.

It is difficult to win with 23 turnovers, but UP's stifling defense caused the Wildcats to turn it over 32 times resulting in 33 points for the Pilots.

Emme Shearer led UP scorers with 13.

It was good to see Tyler McCliment-Call back on the court after injuries forced her out of recent games, but McKelle Meek is still sidelined with a boot covering her injured left foot.  I did not see Keeley Frawley at all and I believe I saw Liana Kaitu'u behind a mask on the bench, but she did not play.

Next up tomorrow at 4:30 is either Florida International or Northern Arizona.

I do believe this is the first post season win ever for a basketball Pilot team? Congrats, ladies!

The Pilots overcame their turnover problems from yesterday and won their semi-final game against Northern Arizona today.  

Maddie Mulheim was 6-11 from behind the arc to finish with 22 points while Haylee Andrews came away with 18 and Alex Fowler totaled 17 in the Pilots 80-65 victory.

Maddie's final 3-pointer of the game gave her the all-time UP record for 3-point shots made with 224, passing UP Hall of Fame guard Deana Lansing by one, and Fowler, a sophomore, went over the 1,000 point quicker than any Pilot in history.  

Still missing 3 players from their lineup, the Pilots took advantage of a strong second quarter and 54 points in the paint to make it a no-doubter early.

Today's win puts the Pilots record at 14-12, guaranteeing another winning season.

Tomorrow the Pilots play for the WBI Championship against Cleveland St. at 4:30.

Go Ladies.
Thanks for showing that success on the basketball court remains possible for the program.
Go Pilots.

Missing Keeley, McKelle, and Liana, the Pilots are going to be leg-weary in their 3rd game in 3 days this afternoon, but if they can clamp down on one Cleveland St. kid who puts up 20 a game, they should still have a chance of winning the championship.



I like this picture showing the coaches and players listening to what Haylee has to say.  It is also what I saw on the EWU sideline yesterday as Coach Legans often listened to input from his players.