The No. 2 seeded Pilots women’s basketball defeated the No. 3 Washington State Cougars 72-57 in a semifinal match of the West Coast Conference Tournament (WCC) March 10.
The Pilots now advance to the title game against No. 4 Oregon State after the Beavers’ 63-61 win over Gonzaga and will aim to take home their third consecutive WCC title.
Portland trailed the Cougars from tip off until the half where they ended down by nine. With an automatic bye, the match was the Pilots’ first of the tournament and that first half seemed to be an adjustment period for the team. In a press conference following the game, graduate student Maisie Burnham, who led the Pilots with 19 points, says that the team came back more confident after the half.
“It's a blessing to get that automatic bye and play in the semifinals but it's also our first game getting out there and trying to find a groove,” Burnham said. “The second half was much better and we felt way more confident as a team and more like how we expect ourselves to play.”
The Pilots pulled it together after halftime with three players scoring in the double digits while racking up a season-high 24 offensive rebounds and 23 second chance points.
At the forefront of the offense was Emme Shearer who scored 15 points, Trista Hull with 11 and Alexis Mark with nine. Mark nearly had a double-double with 12 rebounds.
The Pilots’ defense also stopped the Cougars effectively, keeping them to 35.5% shooting from the field.
With the win, Portland has advanced to the WCC Tournament final for the third year in a row and the fourth time in six seasons. Head Coach Michael Meek says that this recent success is what dreams are made of.
“I don’t think you can ever envision something like this,” Meek said. “This is what you hope occurs…What this team is and what the teams before them have been is exactly what I would want to see in a program. They care for each other so much, you can see the way they played today, they just don’t want it to end.”
Heading into the championship game, Meek expects the Beavers to put up a tough fight but says that this Pilot team has the tools to get the job done.
The Pilots will look to defend their title Tuesday, March 11 at 1 p.m. against the Oregon State Beavers in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game will be streaming on ESPN2.
Maggie Dapp is the Sports Editor at The Beacon. She can be reached at dapp26@up.edu.
