# 2023–24 Portland Pilots women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Portland Pilots women's basketball team represented the University of Portland in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Pilots were led by fifth-year coach Michael Meek and played their home games at Chiles Center in Portland, Oregon as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC). They finished the season 21–13, 10–6 in WCC play, to finish in third place. As the No. 3 seed in the WCC tournament, they defeated Loyola Marymount in the quarterfinals, Santa Clara in the semifinals and Gonzaga in the championship to win championship. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where as the No. 13 seed in the Albany 2 region, they lost in the first round by Kansas State.

## Previous season

The Pilots finished the season at 23–9 overall, 15–3 in WCC play, to finish in second place. They defeated Pacific and Gonzaga to win WCC women's tournament. As a result, they received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed in the Greenville region 1 where they lost in the first round to Oklahoma.

## Offseason
### Departures

Portland departures :
| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Keeley Frawley | 2 | F | 6' 0" | Junior | Melbourne, Australia | Transferred to Santa Clara |
| Haylee Andrews | 10 | G | 5' 9" | Senior | Townsville, Australia | Graduated |
| Alex Fowler | 12 | F | 6' 2" | Junior | Townsville, Australia | Signed to play professionally in Australia with UC Capitals |
| Chance Bucher | 14 | G | 5' 8" | Sophomore | Half Moon Bay, CA | Transferred to Eckerd College |
| Emily Sewell | 21 | F | 6' 3" | Sophomore | Melbourne, Australia | Transferred to California Baptist |
| MJ Bruno | 22 | G | 6' 0" | Sophomore | Spokane, WA | Transferred to Montana |
| Liana Kaitu'u | 23 | F | 6' 0" | Junior | Salt Lake City, UT | Transferred to Utah Valley |
| Kelsey Lenzie | 32 | G | 5' 7" | Junior | Seattle, WA | Graduated |
| Maddi Condron | 34 | C | 6' 7" | Junior | Woodend, Australia | Graduated |

### Incoming

Portland incoming transfers :
| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Natalie Fraley | 10 | G | 6' 0" | Sophomore | Kelso, WA | Utah State |
| Kennedy Dickie | 12 | F | 6' 0" | GS Senior | Kelowna, BC | San Francisco |
| Anna Eddy | 21 | G | 5' 9" | Junior | Portland, OR | Seattle Pacific |
| Kianna Hamilton-Fisher | 25 | G | 6' 0" | Senior | Woodland Hills, CA | Long Beach State |
| Piath Gabriel | 36 | C | 6' 5" | Senior | Manchester, NH | UMass |

#### Recruiting

There was no recruiting class of 2023.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | San Diego State | W 83–70 | 1–0 | 17 – Shearer | 9 – Cochrane | 5 – Meek | Chiles Center (409) Portland, OR |
| November 10, 2023* 6:00 p.m., KRCW/ESPN+ | | Villanova | L 42–64 | 1–1 | 11 – Cochrane | 8 – Cochrane | 3 – Hamilton | Chiles Center (733) Portland, OR |
| November 14, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Seattle | W 89–61 | 2–1 | 20 – Ananiev | 6 – Dickie | 6 – Meek | Redhawk Center (342) Seattle, WA |
| November 16, 2023* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | Warner Pacific | W 86–49 | 3–1 | 20 – Ananiev | 10 – Fraley | 4 – Burnham | Chiles Center (877) Portland, OR |
| November 22, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at California Baptist | L 66–71 | 3–2 | 20 – Ananiev | 10 – Fraley | 4 – Burnham | CBU Events Center (231) Riverside, CA |
| November 24, 2023* 12:00 p.m. | | vs. Northern Arizona Las Vegas Holiday Classic | L 65–66 | 3–3 | 21 – Shearer | 6 – Cochrane | 5 – Meek | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 25, 2023* 12:00 p.m. | | vs. Rhode Island Las Vegas Holiday Classic | L 58–64 | 3–4 | 13 – Burnham | 10 – Cochrane | 4 – Dickie | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 30, 2023* 6:00 p.m., KRCW/ESPN+ | | Oregon | W 91–60 | 4–4 | 15 – 2 tied | 9 – 2 tied | 7 – 2 tied | Chiles Center (1,325) Portland, OR |
| December 2, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Montana State | W 73–64 | 5–4 | 18 – Ananiev | 9 – Cochrane | 4 – Meek | Chiles Center (525) Portland, OR |
| December 7, 2023* 4:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Stephen F. Austin | L 71–76 | 5–5 | 14 – 2 tied | 11 – Cochrane | 3 – 3 tied | William R. Johnson Coliseum (1,182) Nacogdoches, TX |
| December 9, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UTEP | W 68–63 $^{OT}$ | 6–5 | 16 – Dickie | 9 – Cochrane | 5 – Meek | Don Haskins Center (1,221) El Paso, TX |
| December 15, 2023* 7:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 9 Stanford | L 51–81 | 6–6 | 12 – Shearer | 4 – 2 tied | 4 – Hamilton | Maples Pavilion (2,875) Stanford, CA |
| December 17, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Willamette | W 83–40 | 7–6 | 16 – Spear | 8 – Dallow | 5 – Mogel | Chiles Center (425) Portland, OR |
| December 20, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Portland State | W 67–54 | 8–6 | 29 – Dickie | 7 – Cochrane | 5 – Cochrane | Viking Pavilion (449) Portland, OR |
| WCC regular season |||||||||
| January 4, 2024 6:00 p.m., KRCW/ESPN+ | | No. 18 Gonzaga | L 53–74 | 8–7 (0–1) | 13 – Burnham | 8 – Shearer | 2 – 2 tied | Chiles Center (1,503) Portland, OR |
| January 6, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at San Francisco | W 67–60 | 9–7 (1–1) | 17 – Dickie | 13 – Dickie | 7 – Meek | War Memorial Gymnasium (232) San Francisco, CA |
| January 11, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | San Diego | W 65–54 | 10–7 (2–1) | 17 – Burnham | 8 – Cochrane | 6 – Meek | Chiles Center (436) Portland, OR |
| January 13, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Santa Clara | W 73–63 | 11–7 (3–1) | 15 – Shearer | 6 – Dickie | 4 – 2 tied | Chiles Center (196) Portland, OR |
| January 22, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Saint Mary's Rescheduled from January 18 | L 67–73 $^{OT}$ | 11–8 (3–2) | 17 – Burnham | 14 – Burnham | 3 – 3 tied | Chiles Center (244) Portland, OR |
| January 25, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Pepperdine | W 82–49 | 12–8 (4–2) | 18 – Shearer | 7 – Cochrane | 6 – Dickie | Firestone Fieldhouse (158) Malibu, CA |
| January 27, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at San Diego | W 64–59 | 13–8 (5–2) | 21 – Shearer | 7 – Burnham | 3 – Hamilton | Jenny Craig Pavilion (388) San Diego, CA |
| February 1, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Pacific | W 85–72 | 14–8 (6–2) | 23 – Shearer | 6 – Shearer | 6 – Mogel | Chiles Center (372) Portland, OR |
| February 3, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Saint Mary's | W 68–35 | 15–8 (7–2) | 15 – Shearer | 7 – 2 tied | 4 – Cochrane | University Credit Union Pavilion (361) Moraga, CA |
| February 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., KRCW/ESPN+ | | Loyola Marymount | W 58–52 | 16–8 (8–2) | 16 – Ananiev | 5 – Cochrane | 3 – 2 tied | Chiles Center (477) Portland, OR |
| February 10, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Pepperdine | W 78–46 | 17–8 (9–2) | 19 – Ananiev | 6 – Fraley | 4 – 2 tied | Chiles Center (816) Portland, OR |
| February 15, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Pacific | L 74–80 | 17–9 (9–3) | 14 – Meek | 7 – 2 tied | 8 – Cochrane | Alex G. Spanos Center Stockton, CA |
| February 17, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Santa Clara | L 58–66 | 17–10 (9–4) | 13 – Meek | 9 – Burnham | 4 – Meek | Leavey Center (594) Santa Clara, CA |
| February 24, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | San Francisco | L 47–59 | 17–11 (9–5) | 11 – Dickie | 7 – Cochrane | 4 – Shearer | Chiles Center (833) Portland, OR |
| February 28, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at No. 16 Gonzaga | L 40–90 | 17–12 (9–6) | 13 – Shearer | 8 – Dickie | 2 – 3 tied | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| March 2, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Loyola Marymount | W 75–63 | 18–12 (10–6) | 18 – Shearer | 7 – 2 tied | 5 – Hamilton | Gersten Pavilion (603) Los Angeles, CA |
| WCC tournament |||||||||
| March 9, 2024 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (3) | vs. (7) Loyola Marymount Quarterfinals | W 78–51 | 19–12 | 25 – Dickie | 7 – Dickie | 8 – Cochrane | Orleans Arena (1,387) Paradise, NV |
| March 11, 2024 2:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (3) | vs. (2) Santa Clara Semifinals | W 63–61 | 20–12 | 12 – Burnham | 11 – Dickie | 5 – Shearer | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| March 12, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | (3) | vs. (1) No. 14 Gonzaga Championship | W 67–66 | 21–12 | 16 – Dickie | 7 – Cochrane | 6 – Meek | Orleans Arena (2,594) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 22, 2024* 1:30 p.m., ESPNews | (13 A2) | at (4 A2) No. 15 Kansas State First round | L 65–78 | 21–13 | 21 – Burnham | 8 – Burnham | 5 – 2 tied | Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. A2=Albany 2. All times are in Pacific. |||||||||
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