Tag: alissa pili

Alissa Pili, sister of Dolphins DT, picked in 1st round of WNBA draft

Alissa Pili, whose older brother is a defensive tackle with the Miami Dolphins, is the newest member of the Lynx.

Alissa Pili, the younger sister of Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Brandon Pili, was picked with the No. 8 overall selection by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2024 WNBA draft.

In three seasons with the USC Trojans and two with the Utah Utes, Alissa Pili earned All-Pac-12 honors three times and was the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2023. As a senior, she averaged 21.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.

With the Lynx she joins a roster led by Napheesa Collier and Kayla McBride that finished with a 19-21 record last season.

Pili’s brother, Brandon, spent his collegiate career at USC and signed with the Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2023. When he made the 53-man roster later that year, he became the first native Alaskan on an NFL’s regular season roster in nearly a decade.

The Dolphins later waived Pili in November and re-signed him to their practice squad where he stayed for the remainder of the year. In January, Pili was signed by Miami to a reserve/futures contract.

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Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Feb. 4 (and steals)

Notre Dame’s freshman phenom still is pretty good.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] continues to impressive with each passing game. The Notre Dame freshman scored a career-high 35 points over the past week. Who knows what she’ll be up to next? She ranks among the national scoring leaders as follows, and we’ve included their steals numbers, too:

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Jan. 28 (and steals)

A certain star for Notre Dame continues to draw attention.

For the first time in her collegiate career, Notre Dame’s [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] was held without a steal against UConn. The tradeoff was she scored a career-high 34 points, which also is the Irish freshman record. Here’s what that means as far as her ranking among the national scoring leaders as well as their steals numbers:

WBB Recap: Ducks let an upset over Utah slip through their fingers

Oregon saw its eight-point halftime lead evaporate and No. 16 Utah avoided an upset in Eugene 58-48.

Utah came into tonight’s game against Oregon averaging 86 points a game and it’s a big reason why the Utes are No. 16 in the nation.

When it was halftime, Utah had 21 and the Ducks had a huge upset within their grasp.

But by the time the third quarter ended, Oregon’s 29-21 halftime lead was completely erased as the Utes outscored the Ducks 22-7 and held a 43-36 lead.

Oregon pulled to within three in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump and Utah escaped with a 58-48 win.

This was a victory not only did this Duck team need, but the program as a whole and unfortunately they couldn’t muster enough offense. Oregon is now 11-10 overall and 2-6 in conference play with No. 3 Colorado next.

The loss wasted a great game from Phillipina Kyei who led all scorers with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Chance Gray added 18 points, but no other Duck could approach double figures.

In the second half, the Utes broke down the Ducks 2-3 zone and found open 12-foot jumpers, mostly from Alissa Pili. She scored all 16 of her points after halftime as the Ducks never adjusted to her becoming hot from the field.

The Utes were just 4-of-20 from three-point land in the first half, but in the second half, the Utes were 4-of-10, including three straight which brought them back in the game during that big third quarter.

Oregon doesn’t have much time to get over the defeat as No. 3 Colorado looms on Sunday. The Buffaloes won’t come into Matthew Knight Arena happy campers as they are coming off an upset loss to the Beavers in Corvallis.

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Jan. 21 (and steals)

Thankfully, the person at the top of this list is OK.

Sunday brought the attention on the top women’s scorer in the country for all the wrong reasons. She collided with a fan who had stormed the court at the end of the game and was knocked down. Fortunately, she wasn’t injured. Here’s how far ahead she is among the other top scorers on the list and their steals numbers, including Notre Dame’s representative, who also leads the country in steals:

USC prepares for big test against Utah and former Trojan Alissa Pili

Alissa Pili versus the Trojans is a big-time showdown.

The USC Trojans are embarking on a huge Mountain road trip this weekend. They face Colorado on Sunday, but first comes a trip to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Utes on Friday night. USC is No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports Women’s College Basketball Poll. The Women of Troy are 13-1 on the season and are one of three teams (Stanford and UCLA are the others) with one loss in the Pac-12, a game behind unbeaten Colorado in the loss column.

USC is currently a projected No. 2 seed for the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament. USC is one of four Pac-12 teams (Colorado, UCLA, Stanford) projected to be a top-two seed in March Madness.

This game against Utah on Friday stands out for one obvious reason: Former Trojan Alissa Pili gets another shot at USC. Pili has become an elite women’s college basketball player. She scored a whopping 37 points earlier this season against No. 1 and unbeaten South Carolina. If that doesn’t tell you how great Pili is, nothing ever will. USC has to contain Pili yet not give up too many good looks to Utah’s other role players. It’s a stiff challenge for the Trojans and their defense on the road.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Jan. 7 (and steals)

See how Notre Dame’s rep on this list is doing.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] continues to do her best on a Notre Dame team that has hit a wall. The Irish have lost two of three since ACC play got underway as the lack of enough healthy bodies seems to be catching up to them. We’ll see if that will improve in the coming days and weeks. For now, here’s Hidalgo among the national scoring leaders and those leaders’ steals numbers:

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Dec. 31 (and steals)

Check out where Notre Dame’s freshman phenom ranks.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] clearly is Notre Dame’s best player as we enter 2024. There’s no other way to put it given that she leads the country in steals and is one of its top scorers. One only can imagine what she’ll do over the next couple of months. For now, here’s how she ranks among the top scorers in the country along with their steals figures:

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Dec. 24 (and steals)

See where Hannah Hidalgo ranks.

Notre Dame got an early Christmas present this year in freshman phenom [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag]. She not only is the national steals leader, but she’s among the top scorers in the country. At this point, one only can imagine what her Irish legacy will be by the time she’s through in South Bend. In the meantime, here’s how she ranks among those scoring leaders and how their steals averages compare with hers:

Women’s basketball national scoring leaders as of Dec. 17 (and steals)

A certain Notre Dame player continues to impress.

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] continues to shine for a Notre Dame that has won eight straight after dropping its season opener. There’s little reason to think she’ll stop anytime soon. Not only is she one of the top scorers in the country, but she still is the top leader in steals. Here’s how she ranks among scoring leaders and also their steals averages: