2021-2022 Schedule/Season

For those of you who missed it the first time or want to see it again, here it is


Once again a good call and commentary by Annshat and JayMo.

That win moves them up to 58th in ncaa net rankings

An enjoyable game to watch. The value of Andrews and Fowler to this team's fortunes cannot be understated. Andrews handled the SFA press admirably.


Coach Meek clearly reduced the player rotation for the game. We'll see if it is a trend going forward.

Was Mckelle Meek on the bench? I did not see her.

Have we been ranked 58th under Meek before? If not, it likely is some time since we were rated 58th or higher, whether RPI or net NCAA rating.

Didnt see McKelle on bench.

A little surprised Kelsey Lenzie doesnt get minutes , especially with teams 3 pt woes. Seems to take care of point well and shoot it more consistently than others.

Yes highest ranking (57th now). I think they got into 80s during Meek's first season.

I wonder how Jaymo feels about being called Jaymo.

(Almost) Gameday!!

Remember it is a noon tipoff in Fresno for the Pilots last preseason game before WCC play begins at LMU on December 30.

UP (9-2/NET 61) is slightly favored over very physical Fresno St. (4-6/NET 157).  Among the 6 Bulldog losses are games against BYU (80-64); USD (64-68); Cal (72-73); and St. Mary's (69-81).

In Fresno State's last game, Saturday, they opened with a 22-0 run and eventually beat UC-Merced, 81-29.

You should be able to watch the game FREE here: https://gobulldogs.com/sports/2016/6/8/videos.aspx



A number of Pilots have missed practice or have not been in the building on gameday due to illness/fatigue around finals week, but last I heard everyone is expected to make the trip to California...and then head out for the holidays.

A 67-50 road win at Fresno St. is a good way to finish the preseason by the Pilots...a team picked to finish 5th in the WCC.  I was impressed with the Pilots ability to spread the floor while passing the ball today, although some of the passes inside to Alex or Lucy resulted in more than few of the 13 UP turnovers.

It was pretty obvious from this game that UP's long bench could be a big and positive factor when other teams might be wearing down when playing every Thursday and Saturday during WCC play.

Now 10-2 on the season with a road loss at Stanford and a close loss at home to Oregon, the Pilots will have 10 days "off" before heading to LMU for a December 30 game.

I say "off" because there is still a lot to be worked on, and as most of the team will not be traveling home for the Christmas break, there will likely be some work put in between now and LMU.

bullwinkle wrote: My wife thought the best part was looking at all the Fresno State players with eye make-up and long lashes on. 

I think you will find that pretty standard for Cali girls in the San Juaquin Valley...at a very early age.

Aside from makeup, the game included a notable improvement in shooting: we hit some 3s.

Someday a UP player will throw one down and claim the first dunk by a Pilot woman.

But they will have to contend with this one already in today’s box score.

No video Geezer?

They don’t put videos in box scores.

Geezaldinho wrote:Someday a UP player will throw one down and claim the first dunk by a Pilot woman.

I hope so!

In recent years, after other college women have dunked the basketball, there have been various versions of who might have been the first female collegian to dunk, but I think it is now accepted that 6-7 Georgeann Wells, playing for West Virginia, did it first exactly 37 years ago today…and back then women were playing with a regulation size ball, not the slightly smaller ball that women use today.**

It was not until about 10 years ago that fuzzy video of the historic event surfaced,


**From the NCAA:
Art. 8. a. (Men) The circumference of the ball shall be within a maximum of 30 inches and a minimum of 29-½ inches.
b. (Women) The circumference of the ball shall be within a maximum of 29 inches and a minimum of 28-½ inches.
Art. 9. a. (Men) The weight of the ball shall not be less than 20 ounces nor more than 22 ounces.
b. (Women) The weight of the ball shall not be less than 18 ounces nor more than 20 ounces.

Pilot women are represented in this list:
http://collegeinsider.com/womens-mid-major-top-25

up7587 wrote:Pilot women are represented in this list:
http://collegeinsider.com/womens-mid-major-top-25

Hmm, interesting that UP is #25 and Stephen F. Austin, the team they beat 70-59 is ranked #9.

But even the NCAA NET, that ranks ALL D1 schools, today moved #49 SFA ahead of #58 UP, apparently on the basis of their 70-38 shellacking of Southeastern Louisiana at home yesterday while UP was defeating Fresno State, 67-50, on the road.  

It is known that running-up the score helps with the NET, but on a number of occasions I have heard Coach Meek tell his team not to attempt a 3-point shot when well ahead in the 4th quarter...I agree with Mike!  

Good to see #2 BYU and #6 Gonzaga also receive recognition from College Insider.com

DoubleDipper wrote:…and back then women were playing with a regulation size ball, not the slightly smaller ball that women use today.**

I need to correct that statement.  When Wells first dunked in February 1984, she was playing with a "regulation" ball, but that dunk was disallowed because a foul was called away from the ball.

On December 21, 1984, when Wells made the first allowed dunk by a college woman, she was using the slightly smaller ball that was adopted by the NCAA/NAIA just a couple of months earlier.

DoubleDipper wrote:I say "off" because there is still a lot to be worked on, and as most of the team will not be traveling home for the Christmas break, there will likely be some work put in between now and LMU.

Just 2 or 3 girls on campus for most of the break

DoubleDipper wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:…and back then women were playing with a regulation size ball, not the slightly smaller ball that women use today.**

I need to correct that statement.  When Wells first dunked in February 1984, she was playing with a "regulation" ball, but that dunk was disallowed because a foul was called away from the ball.

On December 21, 1984, when Wells made the first allowed dunk by a college woman, she was using the slightly smaller ball that was adopted by the NCAA/NAIA just a couple of months earlier.

At 6’ tall, Wells is the shortest woman to have dunked in a game. We saw the second shortest this year in Stanford’s 6’”1” Francesca Belibi, who has done it a bunch of times. ( but not against UP)



So far 8 women have accomplished the feat. All but Belibi and Wells were 6”4” or taller.

Women Who Have Dunked In a D1 Game:

Georgeann Wells
Charlotte Smith
Michelle Snow
Sancho Lyttle
Candace Parker
Sylvia Fowles
Brittany Griner
Francesca Belibi


Parker and Belibi have won the NCAA slam dunk contest.


And I remember U. Maryland had 7’ twins in the 80’s who could both dunk, given the right circumstances, but never did it in a game.

Geezaldinho wrote:At 6’ tall, Wells  is the shortest woman to have dunked in a game. We saw the second shortest this year in Stanford’s 6’”1” Francesca Belibi, who has done it a bunch of times. (but not against UP)

So far 8 women have accomplished the feat. All but Belibi and Wells were 6”4” or taller.

Actually, and according to WVU Athletics, Georgeann was/is 6-7.  

In the sports world today the excitement of a slam dunk brings the crowd and the players on the bench to their feet, but as some of the older folks here might remember, dunking was banned by the NCAA for 9 years beginning with 1967-68 season, by what was then called the "Lew Alcindor Rule" by the press.

Why? "Because it was not a skillful shot," said the NCAA.  And they NCAA cited 1500 injuries caused by dunks the previous season.      But it was also that previous season that Lew Alcindor (later called Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) shook the college basketball world by repeatedly dunking over opponents.

Alcindor, always willing to speak out on the issues of the day said, “To me the new ‘no-dunk’ rule smacks a little of discrimination.”  “When you look at it … most of the people who dunk are black athletes.” **

Regardless, Alcindor adapted and developed a new move called the "Skyhook" and led the UCLA Bruins to national championships the next two seasons. He did it all without a single dunk.



** Remember, there were no Black players in the ACC or SEC until after Texas Western (now UTEP) won the NCAA Championship in 1966 with 5 Black starters.

DoubleDipper wrote:Alcindor adapted and developed a new move called the "Skyhook" and led the UCLA Bruins to national championships the next two seasons. He did it all without a single dunk.

Thay skyhook worked out OK for him, since he is the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, and 3,000 points ahead of the highest active player, LeBron.

up7587 wrote:

DoubleDipper wrote:Alcindor adapted and developed a new move called the "Skyhook" and led the UCLA Bruins to national championships the next two seasons. He did it all without a single dunk.

Thay skyhook worked out OK for him, since he is the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, and 3,000 points ahead of the highest active player, LeBron.

Lest we get too afield from Pilot's women's basketball, note that Haylee Andrews has developed a nice hook shot of her own which she uses down low inside the paint, with some degree of success herself. She used it to toss in the final shots of the game against USD in the 2020 championship game. I doubt, however, that she developed the hook shot only after dunks became impractical or illegal.

It may not be a skyhook, but it has proven effective.

I've never understood why, since Jabbar's time, more players, especially taller players have not developed a good hook shot.