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SHENZEN, China – The Pilots continued to dominate in China at the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, with Alex Fowler leading Australia to their first ever tournament championship victory while earning MVP honors and Emme Shearer shining for New Zealand.
 
The FIBA Women’s Asia Cup takes place every two years featuring teams from Asia and Oceania competing for an automatic qualification at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The winner earns an automatic qualification for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup while the next five finishers (2nd-6th) advance to the global qualifying tournaments. New Zealand and Australia were two of eight teams in the Asia Cup.
 
Fowler scored a team-high 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting while adding six rebounds and two assists in Australia’s 88-79 victory over Japan, earning TCL Player of the Game honors. She was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player for averaging 11.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and also made the tournament All-Star Five. This is the Opals’ first gold medal at the Asia Cup since joining the tournament in 2017. Fowler led the Opals in points per game while ranking second in rebounds and assists. She scored in double-digits every single game of the tournament.


 

Shearer was stellar for New Zealand, who advanced to the qualification semi-finals before falling to Japan and defeating the Philippines in the fifth-place game. She averaged 10.8 points, four rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest, ranking second on the team in both points per game and assists per game. She scored 16 points in the final contest against the Philippines to help the Tall Ferns take fifth.

 

Shearer and Fowler are two of the most accomplished players in Pilots history, having played crucial roles in Portland’s recent success. Shearer led the Pilots last year to a 31-5 record – their best as a program – while earning All-WCC First Team honors. She averaged a team-high 16.7 points per game along 4.2 rebounds and just under two steals. Shearer twice earned first team honors in her career as well as honorable mention in 2022-23. She finished her Pilot career as the all-time leader in both games played (158) and games started (135), fourth all-time in steals (289) and fifth all-time in points (1,688) and field goals made (615). She was a part of two WCC Tournament Championship-winning teams in 2023 and 2024.

 

Fowler is one of the best Pilots to ever grace the Chiles Center. A four-time All-WCC First Team selection, a two-time WCC Tournament champion (2020, 2023) and a two-time WCC Tournament MVP, Fowler is Portland’s all-time leader at the Division I level in points (2,132), field goals (832), field goal percentage (.550) and rebounds (882). She is second all-time among all Pilot players in all those categories. Fowler ranks third all-time in scoring average (17.5), fourth in free throws made (415), sixth in rebounding average (7.2) and 10th in blocks (89). She is the only Pilot ever to make four All-WCC First Teams.

 

The Pilots put together an incredible season, finishing 31-5 overall and 17-3 in WCC play. They earned a share of the WCC regular season title and also broke a program record for wins in a season. They earned their first ever two playoff wins on the road after qualifying for the WBIT, making the quarterfinals. They also advanced to their third straight WCC Tournament championship and their fourth in six years. 

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