The Portland Pilots women’s basketball team was eliminated from the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) Super 16 after a 72-54 defeat to the Montana State Bobcats before a crowd of 3,897 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Mar. 26.
This result marks the end of Portland’s season, which saw them finish with a record of 20-15 despite significant injuries that left only nine players available for the game. The Pilots have achieved at least 20 wins for five consecutive seasons and have reached postseason play in each of head coach Michael Meek’s seven years leading the program.
Freshman Brynn Smith led Portland with a season-high 14 points, while junior Lainey Spear contributed 10 points and five rebounds. Florence Dallow collected a team-best 12 rebounds. The Pilots narrowed what had been a second-half deficit of as much as 21 points to just nine on two occasions but were unable to complete the comeback against Montana State, who outrebounded them by a margin of 51-30 and outscored them in paint points, 42-26.
Montana State was led by Addison Harris with a game-high 23 points and Taylee Chirrick, who recorded a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Bobcats will move on to face South Dakota in the WNIT’s Great Eight round.
Portland started slowly, falling behind early due to turnovers but managed to cut down mistakes as the game progressed. Smith made four three-pointers in her performance, helping keep Portland within reach at halftime despite being outrebounded and shooting just over one-quarter from the field.
The loss also marked the final collegiate games for seniors Natalie Fraley and Nicole Rodriguez. Despite this setback, several underclassmen contributed significantly throughout both this game and season.
