ANCHORAGE, Alaska – University of Utah women’s basketball players may have been especially compassionate toward one another during Monday night’s game against Gonzaga University. They shared plenty of hugs, pats on the back, and fist bumps throughout the game on the Gonzaga home court in Spokane, Washington.

That may be because several days earlier they had experienced racist incidents together at their Idaho hotel. Twice on the night of Thursday, March 21, people intimidatingly revved their truck engines and shouted the N-word at the team, the band and cheerleaders as they entered and later exited a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, restaurant.

“Incredibly upsetting for all of us,” Utah head coach Lynne Roberts said Monday night at a press conference following the game. “You think in our worlds, in athletics and the university settings, it’s shocking. There’s so much diversity on a college campus and so you’re just not exposed to that very often. And so when you are, it’s like, you have people say, ‘Man, I can’t believe that happened.’ But racism is real and it happens, and it’s awful.

“So for our players, whether they are white, black, green, whatever, no one knew how to handle it. And it was really upsetting. And for our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA tournament environment, that’s messed up.

“It happens a lot and doesn’t get talked about enough,” Roberts said.

The team changed hotels.

Kathleen Navarre was University of Utah basketball player Alissa Pili’s athletic director and math teacher at Dimond High School in Anchorage . She also had her as a student aid as a senior. Navarre told ICT she is also familiar with racism.

“The racism and neo-Nazis, that was prevalent when I was at the University of Idaho and when I was doing my student teaching in Coeur d’Alene, so I know that it existed there. I am shocked that in this day and age it’s still prevalent, but I know in that area of the country I know it existed there, so I’m not shocked that it still exists there,” Navarre said.

Despite the incidents, the Utes made the Gonzaga Zags fight hard for their 77-66 win Monday night. ESPN commentator Mike Thibault called it a nose-to-nose “war.”

That’s the tough, agile kind of basketball Alissa Pili, who is Samoan and Inupiaq, grew up playing with her brother and cousins, said her father Billy Pili, Samoan-American. He told ICT she grew up playing ball at a hoop on the street, with many late nights at the gym, and numerous flights to small towns in Alaska to compete and get noticed. It helped that Alissa Pili is 6’2” and that he’s been a coach.

“It’s got a lot to do with genetics too. (And) she comes from a background of just that’s all we did was sports. Our family just played sports all our lives. And then another thing is just how me and my wife just raise our kids to work hard and whatever you’re doing, you better do it the best that you can. And she’s carried that a long way and it’s just been crazy. And she has to compete with seven other siblings, so it’s pretty tough,” Billy said.

Alissa Pili made 10 points in the first five minutes of Monday’s game, 12 points in the first quarter and 17 points in the first half. Then the Zags’ guards switched tactics to slow her down. Even so, she showed her range, catching rebounds under the basket and making shots both with her left or right hand. She made 35 total points, continuing her streak of 37 baskets in her last two games against South Carolina and Southern Cal, and an also impressive 27 points against South Dakota.

“She has always been a humble, hardworking, honest team player,” said Navarre, adding she traveled to watch Pili play when she was at the University of Southern California and then this year at Utah. ”She’s still the same kid,” she said.

Last year Alissa Pili was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and earned First Team All-Conference. She was named Most Improved Player in the Pac-12 media polls. Following the 2019-2020 season she earned the title of Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.

And that’s part of a longer record of overall athleticism. In her home state of Alaska, Alissa earned titles in high school basketball, volleyball, shot put, discus and wrestling. She also earned the Pride of Alaska award from the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame.

At the game, her extended family – parents, siblings, aunts and uncles – watched and cheered from the bleachers. “Her and her older brother, they’ve been around sports so much. I have had nephews that played everything and nieces that played, so I supported all my nieces and nephews. So we were at every game and I coached a lot too, so they had no way but they had to be there. So sports is in their life,” Billy Pili said.

Billy said enthusiastic fans help by bringing incredible energy to the games. “Within social media and showing up to the games … just the presence of them, just driving far away just to come and see her and (for us to) listen to their stories. You know what I mean? I mean just talking to people is what she means to them and stuff like that. It’s just so crazy that just a little old girl from Alaska can be all that for somebody. It’s pretty cool.

“We appreciate it and love all the support that they’ve given her. And she represents all Indigenous, you know what I mean? And all Polynesians. It’s just crazy. We just want them to know thank you so much for everything. And it’s just cool to see and hope that she’s doing them proud still, you know what I mean? It’s just unbelievable,” Billy Pili said.

Navarre said Monday’s loss had to hurt. “It hurts because you saw on the court how she loves her team. She plays hard all the time and she wants to win. And you could tell she was doing everything she could. She dropped 35 points and just (was) working hard. She just wants to win for her teammates and her program and her coaches and her family and community. So you could tell she was heartbroken.”

It was also Alissa Pili’s last game in the Utes uniform, and tears streamed down her face as she headed to give the customary handshake to opponents. Alissa said at the press conference, “It’s tough when you know it’s your last college game and it just flew by. I’m just grateful for it all … and I’m ready for the future.”

As teams lose, they are out of the March Madness tournament. For the most part, one male and six other female Indigenous players are out of the tournament as their teams lost. Amari Deberry, Mohawk, with the University of Connecticut is still in. And Houston’s head coach Kelvin Sampson, Lumbee, the first Indigenous coach to lead the nation’s No. 1-ranked men’s basketball team, is still in the tournament. He’s also been named a finalist for the Werner Ladder Naismith Award on Monday, the latest in a number of Coach of the Year and other awards he’s earned.