So many motivations — or obstacles — for the Portland Pilots, depending on the perspective.
Portland is two wins from earning an NCAA women’s basketball tournament berth. The first of a possible two comes Monday, when the second-seeded Pilots play No. 6 seed Pacific in the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals at 2:30 p.m. at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Three years ago, the Pilots (21-8) surprised the WCC by winning the tournament championship as the No. 4 seed. It came with an NCAA Tournament berth, Portland’s first in 23 years, only to have it taken away a week later when the NCAA canceled the dance due to the pandemic.
There’s a feeling Portland is kind of owed one, even though you’ll never hear the Pilots say that. But they remember.
Then there’s the 2022-23 Pilots, who along with Gonzaga stormed through the WCC and easily finished as the conference’s top two teams. It’s widely assumed the Zags and Pilots will play in Tuesday’s WCC final.
More fuel for the fire? There’s the perceived snub of junior forward Alex Fowler for WCC player of the year. And Haylee Andrews, one of the conference’s best players who suffered her second ACL tear in three years in January, effectively ending her college career.
It’s a lot of motivation. It’s also a barrier, if Portland doesn’t channel its focus on Monday’s game against Pacific. Lose to the Tigers, and the dreams die here in the Las Vegas desert.
UP coach Michael Meek says it won’t be a problem. He says the WCC has as much parity as it’s had during his four years in the conference.
“We know how good Pacific is,” Meek said. “They had a shot to beat Gonzaga at the buzzer earlier in the year, and they’ve won eight of their last 10.”
The Pilots haven’t forgotten the feeling of having an NCAA Tournament berth taken from them. Early Sunday afternoon, Portland had a one-hour workout at Orleans Arena. It didn’t take much to stir up the past.
“Being in the arena again, it always brings back those memories. Running through this tunnel thinking that in a week, we could be going to March Madness,” said senior guard Kelsey Lenzie, one of four Pilots who played on the 2020 WCC title team.
This is the best chance UP has had since 2020. The 21 wins is the program’s most since the 1996-97 season. The Pilots swept the WCC season series from seven of their nine foes. They have forward Alex Fowler, only the second player in school history to score 2,000 career points.
Portland positioned itself for a run. By finishing second, the Pilots avoided all the preliminary tournament games that Pacific and BYU, which plays Gonzaga in Monday’s other semifinal, had to play. They’re fresh and ready to attempt to win two games.
In Fowler, the Pilots have a marquee talent. The 6-foot-2 Aussie — one of 10 players from Australia or New Zealand on UP’s roster — was the WCC’s co-scoring leader at 17.6 points a game this season. Fowler is as experienced as any in the conference, with 118 starts, 3,551 minutes, 2,070 points and 858 rebounds during her career.
That Fowler wasn’t the WCC player of the year rankled the Pilots.
“I don’t think anybody in this league over her time has impacted like she has,” Meek said. “She has the right to be disappointed, and I’m sure she is. I would imagine she’s motivated by that, but more than that, the great thing about Alex is she’s always more motivated about the team winning and trying to get back and win this tournament.”
Portland’s chances took a blow five weeks ago when Andrews was lost with a knee injury. Her loss is no small matter, as Andrews is a first-team all-WCC guard and a superior playmaker. But this is the second go-round for Portland having to play without Andrews. She missed most of last season and the first eight games of this season recovering from her first ACL tear.
“It allowed us some other kids to get experience,” Meek said. “Now we have a little more confidence coming into this situation.”
As for the aforementioned Pilots’ motivation this week, there’s one more to add. Portland has five players who are in their fourth or fifth year on the roster, and this could be it for them on The Bluff.
Lenzie said this is the most seniors the program has had during her time, and they’ve bonded well with the underclassmen.
“We want to show them a good experience, and obviously, they want to give us that good experience, too,” she said.
— Nick Daschel reported from Las Vegas.
