PORTLAND, Ore. – University of Portland's women's basketball team announced on Wednesday the signing of Maisie Burnham, the 2021 Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year at Eastern Washington, to a National Letter of Intent. Burnham will join the Pilots as a sophomore for the 2021-22 season with four years of eligibility remaining.

The 6-foot wing from Spangle, Wash. also garnered All-Big Sky Honorable Mention honors after leading the Eagles in points per game (14.3) and finishing second on the team in rebounds per game (5.5).

"We are thrilled to bring Maisie into our Portland Pilot family," head coach Michael Meek said. "She has proven herself as a three-level scorer in Division I basketball. She is known to be an incredibly hard worker that cares first and foremost about team success. Most importantly, she has a great reputation as an incredible teammate, which is imperative for our team culture." 

Burnham started 18 games for the Eagles this past season and averaged 30.1 minutes per contest. She shot 42 percent from the field and 80 percent at the free throw line, while also leading the team in steals (37) and adding in 11 blocked shots. She reached double figure scoring in 17 of the team's final 18 games including a season-high 25 points on the road at Sacramento State.

Before playing her freshman year with the Eagles, Burnham was a four-year varsity letterwinner at Liberty High School, leading Liberty to a WIAA State Tournament title in 2020. Burnham scored over 2,000 career points at Liberty and was twice named the NE 2B League MVP.

Burnham was named to the 2019 Associated Press All-State Basketball First Team and earned 2B All-Tournament First Team recognition in both 2019 and 2020. She was also named a Scorebook Live All-State Girl's Basketball Third Team selection in 2019 and the Scorebook Live 2B Player of the Year in 2020. She was the 2020 Spokane Youth Sports Awards Female Athlete of the Year and made the 2020 Tacoma News Tribune's All-State Second Team.

Nationally, Burnham was also a 2017-18 adidas All-American, participating in the adidas National Championship in 2019. She was also a McDonald's All-American nominee in 2020. She played for the NW Blazers club team from 2015 to 2019.

She was also a four-year letterwinner in volleyball, twice being named 2B South League MVP (2018 and 2019) and earning First Team All-League honors her freshman and sophomore years (2017 and 2018).

Burnham will join an upstart Pilots women's basketball program that is coming off back-to-back winning seasons during the first two years of head coach Michael Meek's tenure. Portland shocked the West Coast Conference in 2020 by winning the WCC Tournament title and then advanced to the title game of the 2021 Women's Basketball Invitational.

The Pilots are expected to return a majority of the roster next season, including All-WCC First Team selections Haylee Andrews and Alex Fowler.

Burnham will join the previously signed four-player incoming freshman class, as well as Oregon transfer Lucy Cochrane, as newcomers to next year's roster.