Portland Pilots get 12-seed, face 5-seed Oklahoma on Saturday

Portland forward Alex Fowler, right, is helped up after making a basket and drawing a foul against Gonzaga during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the finals of the West Coast Conference women’s tournament Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

For the second time in four seasons, the University of Portland women’s basketball team has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of winning the West Coast Conference Tournament.

Unlike the last time when covid-19 upended the tournament and the world, UP will get to dance, and on Sunday their much-anticipated seeding and draw was revealed.

Portland is a 12-seed in the “Greenville 1” region, and will face 5-seed Oklahoma in the first round of the tournament on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. The game will be played at Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA and broadcast on ESPNU.

Should the Pilots pull the upset, they would face the winner of 4-seed and pod host UCLA and 13-seed Sacramento State.

UP is the only team from the state to make this year’s tournament, as Oregon was ultimately on the wrong side of the bubble and Oregon State was on the outside looking-in as well.