The Portland Pilots fly into town Thursday, as the Cougs prepare for arguably their toughest test of West Coast Conference play.
The Pilots are 17-3 and were perfect heading into the conference schedule before suffering three losses in the first nine WCC games.
The Cougs are currently tied with Gonzaga for first place and Gonzaga has a pair of wins over Portland, but no WCC team can match the offensive firepower the Pilots have displayed this season. Portland gives this young WSU squad a unique challenge that they haven’t faced since early in the season against other high-powered offenses like Stanford and Iowa. Portland does not have the pedigree of those teams, but it can sure match their energy.
The Pilots have dominated most of their opponents this season, scoring 10 points more on average (78.9) than the next closest team in the WCC and holding the 34th best scoring margin (17.8) in the nation. The offense also plays it smart with the ball and avoids costly mistakes with a top-40 assist-to-turnover ratio (1.15). Portland pairs its high-flying offense with tough perimeter defense, ranking 41st in opponent three-point percentage (26.8) and 24th in steals per game (11.8).
In the lead up to Thursday’s, WSU head coach Kamie Ethridge has repeatedly mentioned Portland’s unique use of zone and full-court press. The Pilots’ defense dares teams to take risks and is a big reason why the Pilots create so many deflections and turnovers every game.
“Portland’s hard to scout because they’re so different,” Ethridge said. “It’s not like they’re like anyone else. Then you have to worry about their press and then you have to worry about their matchup but at the same time we can’t mimic those things.”
With the numbers the Pilots put up, it should be no surprise they are led by a pair of dynamic and experienced scoring guards in senior Maisie Burnham and graduate student Emme Shearer. Both guards are incredibly efficient shooting above 50% from the field, 38% from, three and 84% on free throws. Both can punish from the line, especially Burnham who shoots with that efficiency on 5.5 attempts per game. Burnham and Shearer also make the most of their time on the floor as well as neither plays above 30 minutes a game and both average over 23 points per 40 minutes.
Forward Alexis Mark is not one to sleep on either, as she averages 10.3 points and 6.2 rebounds while being one of two players along with Shearer to steal the ball over two times per game.
Burnham should find Pullman somewhat familiar as she started off her career at Eastern Washington where she was Big Sky Freshman of the Year and is a native of Spangle, Washington, just 20 miles south of Gonzaga. Burnham transferred to Portland in her sophomore year and has earned All-WCC second team honors in back-to-back years.
Portland was picked third in the WCC preseason media poll, just behind WSU, and has arguably outperformed expectations this season based on its record. Despite this, the Pilots have slowed down since conference play began and currently sit at fourth in the WCC. They have played just one Quad 1 team all season and their only Quad 2 win is against Princeton. Portland has played the 268th hardest schedule in the country according to opponent RPI while WSU has played the 98th-hardest and was in the top 25 during non-conference play.
The Cougs have yet to earn above a Quad 3 win and do not have a better resume than Portland, but the Pilots have largely beat up on below average and poor competition this season. WSU should give Portland a run for its money, especially given they match up well on multiple fronts.
Both teams are similar in the rebounding department at 36.4 per game for WSU and 34.8 for Portland. The Cougs and the Pilots also both shoot just over 20 threes a game as well, although Portland shoots nearly 5% better at 35%. Both teams thrive at creating deflections, keeping teams honest from outside and finding ways to post opportunities without controlling the glass.
Yet, the Cougs have a key opportunity to exploit the Pilots’ lack of size in the frontcourt. Portland does not have a single consistent rotation piece that is above 6-foot-2 and their tallest player on the roster is 6-foot-4 freshman Ella Zimmerman who is averaging 5.8 minutes per game this season. Meanwhile, the Cougs have a pair of centers in 6-foot-6 Alex Covill and 6-foot-3 Candance Kpetikou who are strong shot blockers as well as the rangy Dayana Mendes who far outplays her 6-foot-2 frame with an impressive wingspan.
Ethridge praised Covill’s career-high 21-point performance on Saturday and said Kpetikou had her best practice all season this week. Ethridge believes her frontcourt has the ability to workaround the Pilots’ stingy defense.
“Against Portland I think we’ll see a press almost always and if we can get out of that press and [Covill’s] you know the height that we have back there or even against their zone I think we can throw over the top of their zones and some of their presses,” Ethridge said. “So if we can handle the early part I think we’ll get some good looks.”
While Gonzaga likely remains the biggest threat to WSU for the regular season title, Portland and its scoring punch could be a scary sight come postseason time. Ethridge compared Portland’s physicality to Gonzaga, a team she says treated the Cougs like “rag dolls.” The Cougs will have to be more physical than the Pilots on both ends of the floor if they want to gain an upper-hand in the conference standings and get a confidence boost of a win.
The Cougs play Pilots Thursday at 6 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum.
