University of Portland Women's Hoops Advances To Second Consecutive NCAA Tournament With Win Over Gonzaga

Portland coach Michael Meek watches during the second half of the team’s NCAA college basketball game against Gonzaga in the final of the West Coast Conference women’s tournament Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

750 The Game Staff

For a second straight year, the University of Portland women’s basketball team has won the West Coast Conference Tournament and with it, an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The two-seed Pilots upset the top-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs 67-66 in Tuesday’s tournament championship game. They will be dancing in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history, not including their automatic bid earned in 2020 before the COVID pandemic.

This is the program’s fourth conference tournament championship.

Multiple stoppages in play in the final minute of play added to the drama late between UP and the Zags. But the Pilots defense held off a three-point attempt by Gonzaga in the waning seconds, and after a final inbound, Portland saw the clock hit zeros and the celebration began.

It is also the second straight conference tournament that ended with Portland upsetting Gonzaga in the championship game. UP won last year’s title bout, 64-60.

Portland was awarded a 12-seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament. They lost in the opening round to 5-seed Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament in Paulie Pavilion, 85-63.

Selection Sunday is this Sun. March 17th, and the Pilots will again be waiting to see their destination and matchup, knowing that for a second year in a row, they’re dancing.