2023-2024 Schedule/Season

It was wonderful to see Keeley Frawley back in the Chiles Center and score a season-high 13 points against her former teammates.

Always a fan and teammate favorite in Portland, Keeley is loving her leadership role at SCU...and the sun too.  


It was also good to see the Pilots come out strong at the beginning of the game, a carryover from the fourth quarter against USD on Thursday.  Too often (almost always?) UP lets the opponents hit first and have to come from way behind to pull out the victory.

This time it was SCU that went to the full-court press in the second half which slowed down the Pilots, who scored only 11 points in the third quarter, but SCU scored only 13.  

When UP travels to Santa Clara for a February 17 afternoon game, they are going to have to find a way to play tight defense without fouling the 3rd best free-throw shooting team in the nation.  Last night the Broncos were 14-15 from the line while only 5-22 from 3-point range.

Woman of the match was Emme who set the tone with her five first half steals...

wrv wrote:To the summation I'll add that the Pilot's defense won this game. Emme Shearer is a force on defense, with 5 steals, 2 blocks and 4 assists. Ananiev had 3 steals with 2 blocks. Burnham had 3 steals. That Santa  Clara's shooting percentages were down was no accident. 40% from the field,, 22.7 from behind the arc. Those percentages are down for Santa  Clara. Until the fourth quarter we kept Heal in check--she had 14 in the fourth.

Our offense sputters at times. But the defense is almost always impressive and game altering.

Watching Emme Shearer this year is a lesson in pressing defense oriented basketball. Ananiev is also adept at defense, often guarding the point of our opponents.

When I look at SCU’s shooting percentages I only see a percent or two drop in production. They have shot about 41.5% this season. 22% from three is good defense, but the Boncos only average 34% for the season.

But the points off turnovers and fast break points broke their back.  The pressing defense continues to give other teams the yips for stretches of every game.

Also nice was the 48 points in the paint. Even with our dry spells, there are good things to see on offense, too.

Still need to do better on the boards, though.

Tomorrow's (1/18) UP game against SMC has been postponed until Monday 1/22 at noon!

DoubleDipper wrote:Tomorrow's (1/18) UP game against SMC has been postponed until Monday 1/22 at noon!

The weather is warmer, but the Pilot's shooting was pretty cold. An OT loss 73-67.

Unforced turnovers, missed layups, an inexplicable failure to make free throws, yet Pilots win, coming back from a half time deficit of 10. Good game Emme Shearer, 21 points and a continuing  force on defense.
64-59 over USD.

Anyone at tonight's game? Scott Leykam pointed out on X that UP is alone in 2nd place in conference standings after beating UOP 85-72. Looks like they led wire-to-wire.

And Emme Sheare had a new career high of 23 points, making 5-7 2P shots and 10-10 FTs. If she'd had better luck on 3P shots (1-7), she'd have really set a new high.

Dyani also played great in her 23 minutes off the bench.
16 points, four rebound, three blocks, two steels and an assist.

Looks to me like she is in the running for another Freshman of the week mention.

up7587 wrote:Anyone at tonight's game?  Scott Leykam pointed out on X that UP is alone in 2nd place in conference standings after beating UOP 85-72.  Looks like they led wire-to-wire.

Four 20+ point quarters where the Pilots controlled the game throughout. Going 27 of 34 from the FT line should indicate the type of play exhibited by Pacific. Physical, would be a generous and polite description of their style.

The end of 1st and 3rd quarters where the three freshmen were all playing together was very solid. Really good defensive pressure that picked up the overall team energy. This was a fun game to watch. In my view, this win puts the Pilots as the clear number two team in the conference.

up7587 wrote:Anyone at tonight's game?  Scott Leykam pointed out on X that UP is alone in 2nd place in conference standings after beating UOP 85-72.  Looks like they led wire-to-wire.

This was, perhaps, the most physical game the Pilots have played this season.

UOP has some talent, and I think their coach is excellent at exploiting that talent, but they play a very rough and tumble style, a style UP could not have handled just a few years ago.  Face it, the team was behind and struggling early, but Coach Meek brought in the three energizer freshmen, and the game turned in UP's favor and the Pilots widened the lead the rest of the way.

Tough to see Kiana not suited up and the bench, just hoping the result of the MRI on her knee this morning was positively negative.

The referees all seemed nice enough people in my brief conversations with them, but they are absolutely crappy referees!  UOP often spent as much as 8 seconds standing around in the paint and there were zero calls.  On the other hand, after much pushing and shoving with no calls, the slightest bumps from Rhyan resulted in two calls.  "Automatic," the ref kept saying when confronted from the fans on a number of ticky-tacky calls.

Next up, on the road against St. Mary's, a team UP lost to in OT on a recent Monday afternoon in Portland.

DoubleDipper wrote:Next up, on the road against St. Mary's, a team UP lost to in OT on a recent Monday afternoon in Portland.

That delayed loss must have left a very sour taste in the Pilots' mouths. In the loss, SMC's 5'10" Fr G Aokuso scored 24 points. Tonight she got 5 points on 2-10 shooting. The Pilots hammered the Gael, leading by 14 after 1Q, 11 at the half, 24 after 3Q and 33 at the end.

up7587 wrote: The Pilots hammered the Gael, leading by 14 after 1Q, 11 at the half, 24 after 3Q and 33 at the end.

It wasn't easy attempting to watch this game on my phone while at the men's game, but one thing was obvious, SMC could not handle UP's pressure defense.

The Pilots held the Gaels to only 25% shooting from the field while limiting them to 35 points, the fewest points allowed in a game since 2013. And they forced 23 Gaels turnovers with 16 steals (4 each from Emme and Lainey, and 3 from Dyani) resulting in 30 points.

The Pilots have only three home games remaining, so come out and see some good basketball and crappy officiating before it's too late!

Thursday February 8 at 6pm vs. LMU
Saturday February 10 at 3pm vs. PU in a double-header with the men facing SMC at 5:30
Saturday February 24 at 5pm vs. USF

We might take a moment at this point to acknowledge that while there were many factors to consider for the reason the Pilots hammered the Gaels in their rematch shortly after losing to them in overtime, the quality of coaching is one factor. No one is clamoring for the women's team coach to step aside.

Shani got her 6th WCC freshman player of the week award for her performances against Pacific and St. Mary’s

CREDIT UNION 1 WCC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK – DYANI ANANIEV, F – PORTLAND
Dyani Ananiev averaged 14.5 points per game off the bench for Portland across two games last week, helping the Pilots secure second place in the Conference standings. Ananiev scored 16 points against Pacific last Thursday and added four rebounds, three blocks and two steals. It's the sixth time this season she's posted a combination of at least five blocks or steals in a game. Ananiev followed up with 13 points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds against Saint Mary's last Saturday.

The women got off to a slow start, scoring the first bucket, giving up 6 straight LMU points, getting their second bucket 4 minutes later, then giving up 9 straight to fishing the quarter down 15-5. They eventually trailed 22-7 before finishing down 9 at the half. They came out hot and outscored LMU by 14 in the third, led by Ananiev's 14 points in the quarter. Final was 58-52 UP. The women are now in 2nd place alone 2 games behind GU and 2 games ahead of SCU and USF.

The women got off to a slow start, scoring the first bucket, giving up 6 straight LMU points, getting their second bucket 4 minutes later, then giving up 9 straight to finish the quarter down 15-5.  They eventually trailed 22-7 before finishing down 9 at the half.  They came out hot and outscored LMU by 14 in the third, led by Ananiev's 14 points in the quarter.  Final was 58-52 UP.  The women are now in 2nd place alone 2 games behind GU and 2 games ahead of SCU and USF.

It seemed like LMU’s plan was to out-hustle us with substitutions at practically every deadball.   It didn’t work, but nothing was dropping for the Pilots for most of the first half. We had a couple nice runs though and held on at the end.  Sometimes shots just don’t drop.  We made up for that with incredible defense, frequent steals, and forcing turnovers (and another 4 blocks from Lucy).  The most frustrating part of watching the game was rebounding.  LMU had 19 offensive rebounds.  We had 7.   They had 48 total rebounds to our 24.   We’re clearly much better than that, but not in this game.

bullwinkle wrote: The most frustrating part of watching the game was rebounding.  LMU had 19 offensive rebounds.  We had 7.   They had 48 total rebounds to our 24.   We’re clearly much better than that, but not in this game.

LMU was bigger, stronger, more athletic, and more experienced...and did not look at all like last year's team with quite a few transfers on the roster.

LMU coach Aarika Hughes played for Coach Meek in high school before graduating from USC, and her style of play and sideline coaching closely resembled Meek's last night...but as we witnessed, great defense eventually results in good offense and the Pilots prevailed after clamping down on LMU in the second half.  

After the Pilots scored only 5 points in the first quarter and 19 for the first half, I surmised the headline would read, "LMU defense shuts down UP," but in fact, the UP was just missing its shots from good, and often open looks.  

This was the sixth win for UP after trailing at the half, but trailing at halftime is a trend that is going to have stop if the Pilots are to maintain second place and a Monday start in Las Vegas and win the championship on Tuesday.

Insightful comments all, but I think acknowledging the clutch player Emme Shearer is now is warranted. As Jennifer Mountain suggested she is our "all-conference" player. Very clutch drive and turn around jump shot late in the fourth. It is not the first time we can say but for her
efforts and those of Dyani Ananiev, this team would not have won last night's game. Ananiev has also become a player on which the Pilots rely.Both of them so important to Pilot fortunes going forward.

For a team with a now 1-10 conference record Pepperdine played with an unexpected intensity. They came to play even if the result was less than satisfactory.  #10, Jane Nwaba, is as athletic a guard as I have seen in the WCC on the women's side. Her drives into the paint, her floaters over an outstretched Cochrane were fun to watch. Pepperdine though has no one, healthy at least, who can shoot the three, of which they had none. They also could not overcome the Pilots smothering defense.

The Pilots matched Pepperdine's intensity and then some. Fair to say that the Pilot's defense disrupted the Waves offense, dominating in a sense. Shearer's on ball defense is difficult for opponent guards and the Waves were no exception. Anoher game for Ananiev to show her talent , from the three point line, on her drives to the rim and in her defense. Thought both points, Mckelle and Ryan, had good games overall. Maisie Burnham is a warrior whether she is shooting well or not. She is relentless around in the paint. Let's hope she remains healthy despite. Cochrane's block numbers continue to rise; her 250 total is seemingly unreachable for future Pilot D1 bigs.  And Strelein hit a three capping Pilot's easy 32 point win.

Eleven Pilots played, and every one of them scored.  The Waves had nothing left in the second half, and were dominated 43-22, with most Pilot starters sitting the 4th quarter out.

If the 6th freshman of the week award is worth noting, surely the 7th is too. Ananiev is a special, talented player.

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2024/2/12/womens-basketball-ananiev-wins-seventh-wcc-freshman-of-the-week-award.aspx

An atrocious start at Santa Clara left the women down 17-4 after one quarter.  Although outscoring the Broncos in each of the other quarters, they lost 66-58.  Two straight Pilot losses and six straight Bronco wins leaves UP and SCU tied for 2nd in WCC play.  SCU has already lost twice to GU, and has the easier remaining schedule.  Pilots still have a game with GU.

Beating USF at home will be crucial to keep a chance to stay even with SCU in the standings, and not get overtaken by USF, where falling to 4th place puts a team on the GU side of the bracket.

Can someone please update the injury status of Khiana Hamilton? Others--Kennedy Dickie? To confirm, Malika Samia and Anna Eddy are redshirting?

DD? Adam?

wrv wrote:Can someone please update the injury status of Khiana Hamilton? Others--Kennedy Dickie? To confirm, Malika Samia and Anna Eddy are redshirting?

DD? Adam?

Malika done her knee so yep redshirted. Anna has played mins already, no redshirt. I probably shouldnt comment in detail on injury progress of other shorter term injuries just before a game tomorrow, but both recoveries going well.

I spoke with Kianna and Kennedy today, they are back...

Kianna, Lucy, and Kennedy will be honored on "Senior Night" tomorrow around 4:45 before the USF game at 5 o'clock.

Remember, not only is the Pilot Club open tomorrow at 4 o'clock and serving "enchilada bake," the Black History Month Celebration Market will be open between 4 and 7 tomorrow evening on the mezzanine level of the Chiles Center.

Please come out to celebrate and support our local Black owned businesses, local vendors, and the community...