2025 Pilots WCC Conference Games

The season begins today!

Despite the undefeated record and #74 NET ranking, there is a long road ahead for the Pilots on their way to Las Vegas in March.

Tonight, the Pilots are in LA to take on the Lions at 6pm before returning home to meet the Pacific Tigers at 3:30 on Saturday before a very quick Christmas break and then meeting up in Santa Clara for a noon game the following Saturday, December 28.

After that, the schedule gets even tougher as the team heads north to play Oregon State two days later at 6pm in a rare Monday game, and then Gonzaga comes to the Chiles Center to ring in the new year on Thursday, January 2 at 6pm, and then the Pilots make a quick turnaround to play LMU again, this time at 3pm at home on January 4.

The team and coaches know it is not going to be easy, and they are not taking any games for granted, but the early portion of the schedule is compressed, and bench will play a big role in the team continuing its winning ways.
 
74 Portland          10-0
117 San Francisco   3-6
154 Gonzaga          5-6
156 Washington St. 4-6
166 Santa Clara     4-4
178 LMU               4-2
183 Oregon St.      2-7
193 Pepperdine     5-4
214 Pacific            4-6
233 Saint Mary's   4-5
279 San Diego      2-5

Meek started. Ananiev has played. Good first quarter.

Having to fly down to LA, play a night game, and then turn right around and come home to play an afternoon game two days later against a fully-rested Pacific team is just brutal. It feels like every game against the Tigers the last few years has been a rock fight.

But if the Pilots are going to pull off a couple of wins, tonight was basically the perfect first game: shoot the bejeezus out of the ball, get a big lead early, and spread the minutes around to everyone. Dyani looks like she hasn't missed a beat offensively.

I’d complain about our shooting in the first half, except that our rebounding, second chance points, and overall defense created and kept us 15-20 points ahead.  At one point the announcers said we had 11 offensive boards, which was the same as LMU’s total boards. I liked them.  They were very complimentary, even in their (mock) complaints about the Pilots - ‘Maisie wasn’t having a great first half, but who’d notice’, suggesting Dyani has some sort of grudge against LMU the way she shoots, that every time they looked at players waiting to come in it seemed like it was starters.  I’m beginning to see what it’s like to be a Gonzaga fan.

This week´s NET rankings are out.

Against DI opponents, the rest of the conference has a losing record. Even after considering all opponents of any level, the rest of the conference has a losing record.

I guess it depends on what you mean by “the rest of the conference”.   Those are D1 records I just posted, mostly out of conference at this point.

I see three teams with a winning record. LMU only lost two games out of conference, with conference games totaling zero sum.

But,yeah, not the WCC’s best start to the year.

I was aggregating, combining all records. The rest of the conference as a group.

Gameday!!

Rob's Jacket wrote: It feels like every game against the Tigers the last few years has been a rock fight.

Talking to Coach Meek at the beginning of the season, in addition to WSU, GU, and OSU, he was most worried about USF and today's opponent UOP...

His comments centered around them being very physically tough and able to play defense as well as any WCC team.

Today's match-up features two of the top teams in the country in forcing turnovers. UP (1-0) currently ranks as the 18th best team at forcing turnovers at 24/game with UOP (1-0) right behind at 29th and 22.09 forced per game.

The match-up also clashes an efficient offense against a stout defense. The Pilots have shot 50 percent or better in seven of their 11 games thus far, but the Tigers have not allowed an opponent to reach 50 percent shooting in 20 straight contests dating back to last season.

UOP's 6-1 Senior Elizabeth Elliott (#14) is the player to watch as in her last four games she has set a new career-high in scoring (26 points vs. Houston), notched a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) against a now ranked California team, and shot 12-for-12 from the free throw line against UC Santa Barbara.

UOP welcomed OSU to the WCC by beating them back on December 5, and the Tigers are well rested having not played since last Sunday.

Nice Christmas gift for Pilot fans, double header wins. 84-71. Another double digit win.

UOP was averaging almost 15 3P tries per game, and making 30%. They were 0-6 today. The Pilots' 9-28 performance on 3Ps helped offset only 44% shooting on 2P tries.

DoubleDipper wrote:UOP's 6-1 Senior Elizabeth Elliott (#14) is the player to watch as in her last four games she has set a new career-high in scoring (26 points vs. Houston), notched a double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) against a now ranked California team, and shot 12-for-12 from the free throw line against UC Santa Barbara.

Good scout. She got 24 points on 9-10 shooting and 6-7 FTs, with 6 rebounds.

I like Pacific and especially like their coach.  Never gets too worked up - just watches and analyzes.  I remember four of their starters from last year, all very good players.  Problem last night was they didn’t get much help from the bench - 3 points (we had 22).  The thing that really stood out for me though was the overwhelming influence of the referees - 51 total fouls.  Most of our games have been in the low 30’s.  While the fouls were basically even, I’m feeling particularly aggrieved.  When I buy my ticket, I feel like I’m helping to pay the referees and I’d like them to remember that when it comes to the 50/50 calls for a home team trying to keep a record breaking streak alive. After all, isn’t that the current state of American democracy?

bullwinkle wrote:I like Pacific and especially like their coach.  Never gets too worked up - just watches and analyzes.

Certainly a contrast of style compared to Mike, but both types of sideline behavior seem to work because the players love playing for both coaches and both coaches are winners.

(However, UOP's coach was certainly worked up when he learned the visitor's locker room was not immediately available to his team yesterday because the Lafayette men's team was still using it.)

bullwinkle wrote: The thing that really stood out for me though was the overwhelming influence of the referees - 51 total fouls.

Just when we think the officiating of WBB can't get worse, we are proven wrong!!

Last evening, one official, Sean, repeatedly and incorrectly blew his whistle even when he wasn't looking at the play and he was never questioned or overridden by the other officials, but his calls were often correctly and voraciously questioned by some very knowledgeable basketball people in the stands and courtside.

In the past, referee evaluators observed each game from the stands and debriefed each referee on their performance at halftime and at the end of the game, but I do not know how officials are now trained or fired without strong input from the WCC schools.

In any case, a very good game between two very good teams was almost ruined by one official who deemed himself more important than the players on the court or the fans in the stands.

The Pilot's defeat of UOP increased their NET score from 58 to 65. UOP improved from 215 to 204 with the loss.

wrv wrote:

up7587 wrote:The Pilot's defeat of UOP increased their NET score from 58 to 65.  UOP improved from 215 to 204 with the loss.  

I confess to being baffled by the logic underlying this algorithm. Huh? We win by 13 and earn a lower rating?  One can only imagine the effect should we have lost.

And given that all of UP's future opponents currently have a lower rating, will UP's score continue to increase with each game? Was 58 the apex score this year?

Gameday!

After their short break and limited practice, the Pilots have gathered in Santa Clara for a noon tipoff against the Broncos.

SCU is 1-1 in WCC play after losing at home to SMC and going on the road to beat Pepperdine.

The SCU player to watch is #5, 6-3 Australian Olivia Pollerd, averaging over 16 points per game.

Another Aussie to watch is Aussie Rapp's older sister, #22, Hannah Rapp, who has started every game and is 9-19 from beyond the arc this season.

The game is on ESPN+.

14-0!!!

UP24 wrote:14-0!!!

The 81-54 victory was powered by a 50-21 advantage in the middle two quarters.  Starters' minutes played ranged from 21 to 26.  Eight players came off the bench for minutes.

For SCU, Pollerd got her 15 points. Hannah Rapp missed her two 3P tries, made a single 2P bucket, and got 3 rebounds.  As a team the Broncos were 2-14 on 3P tries.

This team is just so much fun, and it's really encouraging to see them win games in so many different ways. Today, Santa Clara didn't really turn the ball over much against the press, but the Pilots had such great ball movement (25 assists on 31 field goals) and shooting (51% from the field, 42% from three) that it didn't matter. It's also great to once again see minutes spread around so evenly at the start of this three games/six days stretch.

Let's get the Beavers!

Rob's Jacket wrote:It's also great to once again see minutes spread around so evenly at the start of this three games/six days stretch.

Even more than that with today's game against SCU, Monday against OSU, Thursday against GU, and Saturday in a rematch against LMU...

Gameday!

wrv wrote:Regardless, go Pilots tomorrow against the Beavs, who will be tough.

Yes it will!

As we all know, last season the Beavers were one of the best teams in college basketball, finishing 27-8 and 12-6 in Pac-12 play, advancing all the way to the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament, but before this season began, most of that team transferred elsewhere after the Pac-12 (temporarily) folded.

Coming off their 12-point comeback in the final three minutes and the OT win in Spokane on Saturday, the Beavers will be the toughest test UP has faced all season as the team has come quite a way since its WCC opener loss in Stockton on December 5.

OSU is bigger, taller, and stronger than UP, and the player that could give UP fits is #15, 6-4 Raegen Beers, last year's Pac-12 Freshman of the Year at OSU, who is averaging a double-double with almost 18 points and 10 rebounds per game.  Also, #30, 6-3 Timea Gardiner who is averaging over 10ppg and 7 rebounds, and #22, 5-11 Talia von Oelhoffen, averaging over 10ppg. All three are returners from last season's team.

Remember, Pilot Club members, the Pilot Club will be serving dinner beginning at 5pm, an hour before tipoff.

DoubleDipper wrote:OSU is bigger, taller, and stronger than UP, and the player that could give UP fits is #15, 6-4 Raegen Beers, last year's Pac-12 Freshman of the Year at OSU, who is averaging a double-double with almost 18 points and 10 rebounds per game.  Also, #30, 6-3 Timea Gardiner who is averaging over 10ppg and 7 rebounds, and #22, 5-11 Talia von Oelhoffen, averaging over 10ppg. All three are returners from last season's team.

Me thinks thou hast looked at the wrong stats page. Beers is starring for Oklahoma. Gardiner is at UCLA. and Von Oelhoffen is starting at USC.

Kelsey Rees is a 6'5" F in her 5th year, three at Utah and this is her 2nd year at OSU. She leads the Beavers with 11.8 ppg and 7.7 rpg. AJ Marotte is a 4th year 6'1" G at OSU who started every game last year. She has doubled her production to 10.6 ppg and 4.3 rpg. Kennedie Shuler is a 5'10" SO from Gresham who is starting this year and getting 7.5 ppg and 4.0 rpg. They also have 6'7" Sela Heide coming off the bench as a 5th year player, 3 at Cal and 2 at OSU.