Haylee Andrews lifts Portland to WCC championship

Portland sophomore guard Haylee Andrews sat Tuesday at the makeshift podium at Orleans Arena with a net draped around her neck, a shiny, silver trophy a couple feet to her right and wearing a seemingly permanent smile.

The women’s basketball coaches in the West Coast Conference voted the Pilots last in the league’s annual preseason poll. But she’d just helped ensure them the last laugh, making a go-ahead layup with 58.3 seconds in overtime for a 64-63 win over No. 2 seed San Diego and into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997.

So much for preseason predictions.

Andrews also converted a hook shot to tie the game with 4.5 seconds left in regulation, some 25 or so hours after making the game-winning floater in a 70-69 over No. 1 seed Gonzaga.

“It’s a bit of pressure, isn’t it? But it’s fun,” Andrews said. “I honestly never expected myself to be going dancing, but this year is a whole different story than last year.”

The Pilots finished 2018-19 with a 13-17 record, including a 5-13 record in conference play and a loss to San Francisco in the first round of the WCC tournament. The school subsequently parted ways with coach Cheryl Sorenson — who accumulated a 33-117 record in five years — and hired Michael Meek last March from Division III George Fox University in nearby Newberg, Oregon.

But even he didn’t expect this. At least not right away.

“I didn’t know what this season would look like,” said Meek, who led George Fox to national championship games in 2012 and 2015. “But this group has made such an awesome journey.”

Behind Andrews and WCC newcomer of the year Alex Fowler, the Pilots (21-11) finished fourth in the conference to earn a double bye into the tournament quarterfinals. They toppled Pacific to set up their victory over Gonzaga in the semifinals. They struggled early and often against San Diego, turning the ball over 24 times, but kept pace behind Fowler’s 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Andrews added 18 points and squirmed her way to the rim late in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 58-58. San Diego (20-11) standout junior forward Myah Pace fouled out on its final possession in regulation, and the Toreos’ offense sputtered in overtime without her shot creation.

Portland’s offense wasn’t exactly efficient, either, in overtime. But Fowler, Andrews and junior Maddie Mulheim combined to make 4 of 6 free throws. Andrews scored in the final minute, and Portland recorded successive stops to confound the conference’s coaches once and for all.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet that we’re actually going to the NCAA (Tournament). … Just to prove to everyone that we’re not 10th, it’s just amazing,” said Fowler, a freshman forward and the tournament’s most valuable player. “I don’t think there’s many teams that can say they were picked to be dead last, and then (win) the tournament. It’s just a great feeling for us.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.