The Portland Pilots women’s basketball team will play the Montana State Bobcats in the Super 16 round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on Thursday, March 26 at Worthington Arena in Bozeman. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. PDT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
This matchup is a rematch of a regular season contest between the two teams. The Pilots are participating in their fourteenth postseason tournament appearance as a program, with seven previous NCAA Tournament bids, four WNIT appearances, two Women’s Basketball Invitational appearances, and one Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) appearance. Their most recent WNIT participation was in 2022 when they secured their first ever win in that tournament.
In this year’s WNIT, Portland has already defeated Sam Houston and Lamar to advance to the Super 16. Dyani Ananiev led the team with strong performances, including an 18-point game with six blocks against Sam Houston and a season-high five three-pointers against Lamar. Head coach Michael Meek earned his 150th career win during this run.
The Pilots have shown defensive strength throughout the season, leading their conference in blocks per game (5.6), turnovers forced per game (20.6), and steals per game (11.1). Julia Dalan set a new freshman record for blocks at Portland with 69 this season, while Ananiev leads the conference with 78 steals.
Several players received postseason honors following strong individual seasons: Ananiev made All-West Coast Conference Second Team; Dallow earned honorable mention; Dalan was named to the freshman team; Nicole Anderson made All-Academic First Team; and four athletes were recognized by College Sports Communicators for academic achievements.
Montana State enters Thursday’s contest with a record of 26-7 overall after finishing second in Big Sky Conference play. Taylee Chirrick was named both Big Sky MVP and Defensive Player of the Year for her performance this season under head coach Tricia Binford.
