This wasn’t going to be easy, wasn’t going to happen overnight. Portland head coach Michael Meek knew it and so did the Pilots’ returning players. A successful encore to a 23-9 season and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997 would require hard work and patience.

“Obviously, there’s no replacing two incredible players like Alex and Haylee,” said junior guard Maisie Burnham, referring to departed stars Alex Fowler and Haylee Andrews. “I think our goal, as a team, was just to come in every day with a learning mentality.”

Complicating the assignment was a difficult schedule that Meek laments a bit. “This has been a really, really challenging schedule, more than we wanted, honestly,” he said.

Picked second in the West Coast Conference preseason coaches poll, the Pilots take a 7-6 record into their final non-conference game Wednesday afternoon at Portland State. They have faced eight teams among the top-150 of the NCAA’s NET rankings, including No. 3 Stanford. They scored a 31-point win over Oregon — the biggest margin of victory ever against a Pac-12 opponent — and lost four times by six points or fewer.

“There’s games we look back on and wish there was a different result but I feel like our team is in a really good spot as far as being motivated to keep getting better,” Meek said. “They’ve really done a great job of not getting too down about those defeats but also making them hungry to keep getting better.”

Burnham said the tough schedule has featured games that are fun to play, but also has been instructive.

“We’re so young and still trying to find our groove as a team. With such a tough schedule it can be a little defeating at times,” she acknowledged. “The positive is we’ve kind of come into every practice trying to get just one percent better.”

They are tackling that challenge without two of the program’s best-ever players. Fowler was a 2,000-point scorer and four-time First-Team All-West Coast Conference forward who is averaging 13.9 points as a rookie with the Canberra Capitals in Australia’s WNBL. Andrews was the team’s savvy point guard who totaled more than 1,500 points and 500 assists despite having her final two seasons shortened by knee injuries. She remains with the program as Director of Operations.

Burnham, a second-team All-WCC pick a year ago, is among four key returnees, along with guards Emme Shearer and McKelle Meek and center Lucy Cochrane. 

“Our team had to understand we were going to look different. We have to rely more on each other,” said Burnham, whose 10.5 scoring average tops a balanced attack. “We have a lot of talent spread out across the whole team, and not just one person has to take all the weight. Working together, we’re going to realize our full potential versus everyone for themselves. It’s beneficial when everyone is spreading the love. That’s what really works for us.”

Meek and Burnham praise Shearer, a junior guard from Australia who averages 10.4 points, with filling the leadership role vacated by Andrews and Fowler. “She deserves all the credit for doing that hard job of the leadership role,” Burnham said.

Cochrane, a 6-foot-6 senior, leads the nation in blocked shots with 49, and Meek, also a junior, runs the point and has dished out a team-best 48 assists. Cochrane sat out the Pilots’ most recent game with an injury and the timetable for her return is uncertain, although Meek does not believe it will be long-term.

Newcomers include transfers Kennedy Dickie of San Francisco and Kianna Hamilton of Long Beach State. An early significant contributor among three freshmen is 6-foot-1 forward Dyani Ananiev,, who has extensive experience in Australia’s national age-group program.

Averaging 10.0 points and shooting 47 percent from the 3-point arc, Ananiev twice has scored 20 points, including against Seattle, when she made six of eight from distance.

“You never know when a freshman comes in what they’re going to be like, but she’s super coachable and she wants to be good,” said Meek, also citing Ananiev’s defensive abilities. “She’s got a chance to be really special.”

Burnham is encouraged by what she’s seeing from her team, through the wins and the losses.

“The positive for us is as a team we haven’t reached our full potential. There’s so much more that we have within us,” she said. “We’ve all seen glimpses of everyone. Putting that together we will be hard to guard.”

After Wednesday’s game, Portland has two weeks off before opening WCC play against preseason favorite Gonzaga, which is ranked No. 20 in the AP Top-25 and has an 18-point win over Stanford on its 11-2 resume.

“They’re definitely an awesome team and they’re having a great year. We know they’re the team to be in our league right now,” Meek said of the Zags. “We’re getting better every day. We’re learning how to be competitive. Now we’ve just got to make another jump or two.

“We’ve always tried to focus on being the best team we can be in March and we’re definitely trending in the right direction.”

March, of course, means the NCAA Tournament. Portland won the 2020 WCC Tournament in Meek’s debut season to earn a bid before the NCAAs was canceled due to the pandemic. The Pilots finally made it last season and earning a return trip is a carrot that motivates them. 

“It’s our main goal — everyone wants to get there,” Burnham said. “I think it’s attainable for the team that we have if we just keep improving and not give up on ourselves. It’s encouraging that we’re where we are and we haven’t even scratched our potential yet.”