UP’s men’s basketball team last season collected the most wins in a season in more than a decade. The women’s team has been picked for their highest finish in the WCC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll with a near-unanimous second-place vote — earning one first-place vote. Basketball season is coming and with the first few games starting the week of Nov. 7 it’s time to prepare.
From upcoming notable games, to when the teams start their league play and notable players, here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming Portland Pilots basketball season.
Both the men’s and women’s teams look forward to a great season. In the WCC preseason poll, the men’s team is predicted to place fifth and the women’s team is predicted to place second.
Notable games:
The first women’s game is on Nov. 2 at home in the Chiles Center. They are set to play an exhibition game against Warner Pacific at 6 p.m.
Nov. 7 kicks off an eventful week for Pilots basketball, with two double-headers being hosted at home. The women’s team kicks off the week by playing Willamette University at 5 p.m. The men’s team then plays Lewis and Clark afterward at 7:30 p.m. Then on Nov. 9, the women’s team takes on Hawaii U while the men play Florida A&M.
Portland will also play host to Stanford women’s basketball on Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. This game will be televised on ESPN2.
The men’s team is going to be participating in the Phil Knight Invitational on Nov. 24, 25 and 27. This event is hosted by ESPN and teams like the University of North Carolina and the University of Connecticut will be in attendance.
First WCC games:
The men’s team opens up conference play against Loyola Marymount on Dec. 29 in the Chiles Center at 6 p.m.
The women’s team has their first WCC game against San Diego on Dec. 17 at 5 p.m. in the Chiles Center. However, they also play BYU on Nov. 19 at home.
Key returning players:
Both teams have players who are recognized not only by the WCC but beyond and will return with all of the key players from last year.
On the men’s side junior Tyler Roberston, redshirt sophomore Moses Wood and redshirt junior Mike Meadows all make their return.
For the women’s team junior Alex Fowler, senior Haylee Andrews and sophomore Emme Shearer are all back on the court.
Quick stats:
Both the men’s and women’s teams play host to some very talented athletes.
Robertson, hailing from Australia played a total of 1147 minutes last season, scored 488 points and had 143 assists. He was also picked to be on the preseason all-WCC team.
Wood tallied 1057 minutes, 488 points and 66 assists last season as a freshman.
Meadows, who transferred from Eastern Washington with head coach Shantay Legans, put up 925 minutes, scored 264 points and had 79 assists.
Fowler, another Aussie player 824 minutes, 454 points and had 78 assists. She was named to Becky Hammon’s Mid-Major player of the year watchlist as well as the all-WCC preseason team.
Andrews returns to the court after tearing her ACL last season. Despite her injury, she still played 804 minutes, put up 421 points and earned 152 assists. She was also on the all-WCC preseason team.
Final notes:
The basketball teams look forward to a strong season. The men’s team will try to follow in their footsteps of collecting more wins than their previous season — hopefully making it another historic season. The women’s team will try and live up to their potential after their highest preseason poll finish in school history. It will be an intense and eventful season.
Wilder Isom is the Sports Editor of The Beacon and can be reached at isom23@up.edu
