Re: 2025 Pilots WCC Conference Games

by DoubleDipper Mon Dec 30, 2024 1:12 am

Haha, thanks, I was surprised when I read that Beers hadn’t moved on. Wonder what year I was looking at.

Thanks for bailing me out.

That’s what I get for attempting to make a midnight post immediately after coming home from the pub. drunken

by Geezaldinho Mon Dec 30, 2024 2:51 pm

So….
Is tonight an assigned seating night?
Or will we have to fight for seats ?

by PilotClub-M Mon Dec 30, 2024 4:03 pm

Geezaldinho wrote:So….
Is tonight an assigned seating night?
Or will we have to fight for seats ?

Assigned seats tonight! No fighting please!

by Geezaldinho Mon Dec 30, 2024 4:31 pm

OK, I’ll let the usher in my section do the fighting. She’s tough.

I’ll just watch.

by DoubleDipper Mon Dec 30, 2024 4:36 pm

My ticket reads, “General Admission,” so not sure how we prove otherwise besides getting there early and putting your jacket in your seat….

by Sound Voltex Mon Dec 30, 2024 8:38 pm

What is with this school and AP polls? We can't have any fun even with one vote?

by up7587 Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:19 pm

OSU's 6'5" forward(?) Rees, who never strayed more than a few feet from the basket, dominated the game. 25 points on 10-14 shooting, mostly layups, and 12 rebounds. She helped give OSU a 49-25 rebound advantage, 34-26 points in the paint advantage, and her defense contributed to the Pilots' 45% shooting on 2P tries (14-31). For the season they have shot 55% on 2P tries.

Calling a time out with 3 seconds left and relying on the refs to call a foul never works. They called plenty of fouls (OSU got 32 FT tries), but they won't call one at the end of a close game.

by bullwinkle Tue Dec 31, 2024 5:24 am

up7587 wrote:OSU's 6'5" forward(?) Rees, who never stray more than a few feet from the basket.

That's because she parked under the basket and never once got a three second call. (Pardon me, but I feel more like wallowing in my disappointment and bitterness for a little while longer.) Other than that and missing a couple offense fouls where OSU hooked our players to make their shot, I'm willing to say the officiating was ok through the game. Overtime, however felt like we couldn't get a call our way until the game was out of reach - then they made several calls in a row for us and even had to rescind one after review. While the first half was a bit frustrating given our turnovers and shooting percentage, it was a fun game to watch and evenly matched. If we had to lose, at least it wasn't to Gonzaga. Given our 3 and 0 record against GU in post-season, I'm sure they'll come in with an extra dose of grudge in their step and in their fans. I suspect it will be awhile before we hit 14 and 0 again. This is a pretty special team.

by RJH Tue Dec 31, 2024 9:35 am

That game easily could’ve gone the other way. We missed several open looks, and there were a couple unlucky bounces and a few questionable calls/non calls. We need to clean up some of the unforced turnovers and not settle for threes. I think we could have put more foul pressure on them and score more from the line. Great effort from the girls though against a good team. Time to start another streak. Beat the Zags!

by bullwinkle Fri Jan 03, 2025 4:59 am

14 wins in a row, followed by 2 losses of winnable games - by nearly identical scores - 76-72 (GU) and 76-71 (OSU). The reasons for the losses aren't the same but a couple stand out. OSU outrebounded us 49 to 25. We improved with GU, but it was still 34 to 26. Second, we are great at forcing turnovers, but that advantage is really compromised if we can't hold onto the ball. GU had 23 TO's, but we had 20. Gonzaga played outstanding basketball in the first half. They turned our press into a fast break exercise. They hit 7 of 11 3's (while we were hitting 3 of 9). We were lucky to only be down 13. In the third, it looked like it was going to be more of the same, but at some point the tide started turning and we came back to make it a game. I thought we were going to win. Just like with OSU, the calls didn't go our way late in the game, but still we had opportunities. There are a couple other things I'd mention. Our bench played 25% of the game, but accounted for only 3% of our points (which is unusual). And, while hitting 73% of our free throws isn't bad, a few more could have been a win. Overall, it was a great game. We just came up short in the end.

by DoubleDipper Wed Jan 08, 2025 12:17 pm

Tomorrow's game in Malibu has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date...

by DoubleDipper Sat Jan 11, 2025 12:02 am

Gameday!

5pm tip; Pilot Club at 4pm with pulled pork sandwiches...

A preseason contender to win the conference championship, USF comes into the Chiles Center tied for first place with WSU at 5-1, and the Dons are coming off a road loss at OSU on Thursday.

UP is tied for second at 4-2 with OSU, GU, and SMC.

USF has been surging in recent weeks and has had some lopsided wins, including a 73-58 drubbing of GU.

USF's head coach, Molly Goodenbour, has admitted that it had been tough initially having 12 international players on the roster, but they are all now playing very well together.

The Dons may not be especially tall, but they are very tough around the hoop, averaging 40 rebounds per game!! Shocked

UP is averaging 34 per game.

Three Dons are averaging in double figures (#12, #7, and #13), and the best player this year has been #12, 6-1 Freja Werth from Sweden.

In addition to being streamed on ESPN+, the game is also on the CW, 703 on Comcast.

by up7587 Sat Jan 11, 2025 8:07 pm

DoubleDipper wrote:
A preseason contender to win the conference championship, USF comes into the Chiles Center tied for first place with WSU at 5-1, and the Dons are coming off a road loss at OSU on Thursday.

UP is tied for second at 4-2 with OSU, GU, and SMC.

Five-way tie for 1st place.

by up7587 Sat Jan 11, 2025 10:36 pm

The win vs. USF was the first game of five in a row against the other top five teams in the WCC. And the next three are on the road.
@GU, @OSU, @WSU, vs SMC.

by DoubleDipper Sun Jan 12, 2025 11:05 am

Helluva game last night...

IMO, UP's bench was the difference in the game with Nat and Rhyan playing like starters, and Lainey disrupting USF near the basket.

UP's plan was to wear USF down after they had played a tough game in Corvallis two nights before while the Pilots rested instead of playing in Malibu.

Also, USF was without their tough inside threat, redshirt senior Debora dos Santos, who suffered a knee injury in practice sometime before the OSU game.

No sense commenting on the officiating, but it was obvious the only male on the court, Benny Luna, enjoyed interfering with the hard work of the 12 women on the court...perhaps he doesn't get his way at home. tongue

Some may have seen the expletive rant USF's coach gave Coach Meek at the end of the game. I think she was also very frustrated at the officiating (Mike was warned by Luna that his next outburst would result in a technical foul), and she was upset that UP continued to press and contest the USF inbound plays when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

I commend Coach Goodenbour for her restraint during the postgame interview...

by StudentPilot Sun Jan 12, 2025 2:53 pm

DoubleDipper wrote:Helluva game last night...

Last night's game was the first time I had seen the women's team live in a couple of years...and it was impressive.

I was sitting with some of the players on the men's basketball team who were pretty laid-back about the game until the second half when you could see how much they too were enjoying the action while applauding every play.

Tough road ahead for these Pilots, but they always show so much grit and determination for all 40 minutes that I would not count them out.

by bullwinkle Mon Jan 13, 2025 2:18 am

DoubleDipper wrote:Helluva game last night...

Some may have seen the expletive rant USF's coach gave Coach Meek at the end of the game. I think she was also very frustrated at the officiating (Mike was warned by Luna that his next outburst would result in a technical foul), and she was upset that UP continued to press and contest the USF inbound plays when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

I commend Coach Goodenbour for her restraint during the postgame interview...

I wasn't impressed by the officiating, but I think they made an equal number of bad or missed calls on both sides.

The end of the game was curious. On the one hand, when a coach is ready to throw in the towel, they pull the starters and put in the bench. I don't recall USF ever doing that. On the other hand, when we called timeout with a 12 point lead and under 30 seconds left in the game. It seemed like a good idea - advance the ball to our half and then dribble out the clock or let them foul - but instead we had a play, Emme scored and then we pressed. I wonder why.

When coach Goodenbour talked about adjusting to the "physicality"of the game, it made me smile because just before the start of the second half the ESPN+ folks did a quick interview with coach Meek about what changes the Pilots neeeded to make. P=rt of his response was learning to adjust to the "physicality" of the game.

by up7587 Mon Jan 13, 2025 5:10 pm

bullwinkle wrote:The end of the game was curious. On the one hand, when a coach is ready to throw in the towel, they pull the starters and put in the bench. I don't recall USF ever doing that.

I don't think USF really had any bench players. They only had 3 subs, and 2 had already played substantial minutes, plus a starter had already fouled out.

by wrv Mon Jan 13, 2025 8:12 pm

What was evident from the game is that once USF gets healthy, de los Santos in particular, they will be a force in this conference. It was no accident that they soundly defeated the Zags in Spokane when healthier than now.

by up7587 Wed Jan 15, 2025 8:45 pm

@WCCHoops wrote:Two more #WCChoops women's basketball games have been rescheduled.

@lmulionswb vs. @WavesHoops on Jan. 28 at 4 p.m.

@PortlandWBB vs. @WavesHoops on Feb. 10 at 3 p.m.

by Geezaldinho Thu Jan 16, 2025 12:41 am

up7587 wrote:
@WCCHoops wrote:Two more #WCChoops women's basketball games have been rescheduled.

@lmulionswb vs. @WavesHoops on Jan. 28 at 4 p.m.

@PortlandWBB vs. @WavesHoops on Feb. 10 at 3 p.m.

That’s brutal. They have UP traveling about 4,750 miles to play four games ( three away) in ten days (six travel days) assuming they come back to UP between games.

Pilots fly to San Diego, then get three days off (two travel days)
Then go to Malibu to face the Waves, then two days off (two travel days)
Then they fly to Moraga to play St Mary’s (two travel days, no day off. that day off they will spend coming home)
To face Washington State, which makes that equivalent to a road game.

I suppose they could spend 10 days on the road instead to save two travel days, but that’s two extra days they don’t sleep at home.

by DoubleDipper Thu Jan 16, 2025 10:08 am

Geezaldinho wrote:I suppose they could spend 10 days on the road instead to save two travel days, but that’s two extra days they don’t sleep at home.

...and attend class.

The last I heard, the team is planning to come home between games.

by DoubleDipper Thu Jan 16, 2025 10:15 am

Tough and crucial road trip begins this evening at 6pm in Spokane...can the Pilots (5-2) bounce back from their home losses to GU (5-2) and OSU (4-2 before the Beavers game at SCU tonight)? It will be tough with the students back on campus at both locations.

Saturday's tipoff in Corvallis will be at 3pm.

by OldGuy Thu Jan 16, 2025 5:00 pm

Dub D, are you sure the game against the Beavs is at 3? Their website says 6

by DoubleDipper Thu Jan 16, 2025 5:03 pm

OldGuy wrote:Dub D, are you sure the game against the Beavs is at 3? Their website says 6

Thanks, they must have changed it after announcing just last week that it was at 3…

It certainly changes my plans to drive to Corvallis.