Portland Women’s Basketball Enters Season With Roster Continuity
Portland Women’s Basketball enters the season with an intact core of eligible rotation players, establishing a rare two-year roster continuity under head coach Michael Meek as the team prepares to open its schedule against Montana State and BYU.
College basketball rosters typically experience heavy turnover due to the transfer portal and Name, Image, and Likeness rules. Portland broke that mold.
Building Continuity Amid Roster Turnover and Injuries
Head coach Michael Meek noted that last year functioned as a deliberate two-year plan following the graduation of all five starters from a 31-win team. Thrust into unfamiliar roles, the younger roster managed a 20-15 overall record and an 11-7 mark in West Coast Conference play, finishing fifth in the standings.
Injuries disrupted that progress. Freshman centers Julia Dalan and Jada Kennedy missed significant time late in the year, while senior guard Natalie Fraley and freshman wing Aubrey Herrin suffered torn ACLs. Only Nicole Anderson, Tiffany Barbosa, and Brynn Smith appeared in every contest. Despite the absences, Portland secured at least 20 wins for the fifth straight season and reached the Super 16 of the WNIT before falling to Montana State.
Pilots Return Starting Five Led by Florence Dallow
The Pilots return their entire regular starting five, anchored by All-WCC Preseason Team picks Dyani Ananiev and Florence Dallow. Dallow served as the team’s most versatile piece, filling roles from the two to the five spot while averaging 9.9 points and a team-high 5.4 rebounds per game. Against Pepperdine last season, Dallow recorded 15 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, and five steals, joining a rare statistical club in NCAA Division I history.
In the frontcourt, Dalan set a freshman program record with 3.3 blocks per game and 69 total blocks, earning a spot on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watchlist before an injury ended her campaign. In the backcourt, Rhyan Mogel stepped into the point guard role to finish fourth in the conference with 155 assists, while Lainey Spear scored in double figures in nine of her last ten games, highlighted by an eight-steal performance against Seattle U on Jan. 17 that fell just one shy of the school record.
Freshmen Join Squad Ahead of Challenging Nonconference Schedule
Freshmen join the squad. Guard Sara Mangan and Pahlyss Hokianga are described by Meek as legitimate point guards who can also score off the ball.
The nonconference schedule presents immediate challenges on the road against Montana State and BYU during the opening week. Portland will host Stanford on Nov. 22 and travel to face Princeton and Oregon in December before playing a WCC slate that now includes associate members Oregon State and Washington.
It is unclear how much of a competitive jump this returning depth will yield as the opening tipoff approaches.