Florence Dallow: Everyone knows her as the basketball superstar that left UP cheering after she led the team to the legendary win against Gonzaga. But after seeing the guard’s performance on the court while recovering from multiple injuries, many were likely left wondering, “Just how did she get that way?”
It would be surprising for most people to know that Dallow’s dreams didn’t always lie on the basketball court.
The senior marketing major comes from an Auckland, New Zealand family that adores sports. Although she was exposed to basketball at an early age through her older brother Max, she spent most of her time in swimming pools and netball courts, the more popular sports in her home country.
At age seven she would accompany her brother and his friends to basketball practice, dabbling in the sport. A few years later, Dallow went on to play on club basketball teams like the North Harbour Basketball Association — the exciting environment and competitiveness of the sport compelled her to pursue it further.
“It was like an evolution from liking it to really enjoying it,” Dallow said.
Dallow enjoyed basketball so much she decided to leave New Zealand to pursue the sport abroad despite the difficulty that comes with recruiting international players.
She says what helped her most with recruitment as UP was her being a player on the New Zealand Youth National Team, with her team winning No. 2 in the 2018 FIBA U15 Women’s Oceania Championship and No. 6 in the 2022 FIBA U18 Women’s Asian Championship Division A.
Dallow was mainly motivated to play at UP by seeing hometown friend and former women’s basketball guard Emme Shearer’s performance for the Pilots.
“[Emme and I] live five minutes away from each other, but I always looked at her Instagram stories from when she was here, how much fun she was having, and how much success she was having as well,” Dallow said. “So that made me gravitate towards Portland.”
Dallow was also inspired by the team’s energy and head coach Michael Meek’s friendliness when she first reached out to the program. Once she arrived in Portland, the support and mentorship she received as a freshman encouraged her to keep playing and improving.
“I learned a lot from all the older girls there [who] are very good,” Dallow said. “That’s what I’ve been really grateful for: Being in a program that had a lot of girls [who] knew a lot about basketball, and they helped me through my freshman year and with my self-development.”
Evan Guerra
But Dallow’s presence on the court came to a halt early on in her UP career.
Dallow redshirted her freshman season due to an ACL tear and played only 21 games in the 2023-24 season, missing the Pilots’ historic 2024-25 season for recovery.
Though unable to train during the 2024-25 season due to her injury, Dallow found support through the team’s other players. She says their experience and encouragement during practice and games was what helped her grow into the leader she aspired to be.
“I’m really grateful for those girls, they were my role models,” Dallow said. “Even though I wasn’t playing, I learned a lot my freshman year, and now I’m trying to put that onto my freshmen and trying to pass [on] what they taught me [to other] girls.”
Dallow’s transition into a key role on the team post-injury was no easy feat, as there were many ups and downs to her recovery process.
“It was a very tough process last year, reworking on my muscles,” Dallow said. “This year, it’s been kind of like a roller coaster as well. I’m so grateful that I’m back.”
Dallow remains appreciative of the trust and support her team gave her throughout the recovery process. She says that being looked up to by the freshmen on her team like she looked up to seniors as a freshman is a strange but thrilling experience.
“I’m very grateful that the coaches can trust me and [that] I have a team [that] can trust me,” Dallow said. “When I was a freshman, I looked up to all the girls. I’m very appreciative that I can be looked at that way.”
Dallow’s energy on and off the court is infectious, and her coach and teammates are impacted by her drive and passion for every game she’s in. Meek appreciates Dallow’s stellar team spirit.
“She’s just always been really fun, a really good [person] to be around,” Meek said. “[She’s a] really great worker. [She] does a great job of wanting to get in the gym and just get better and [be a] fun teammate.”
Redshirt sophomore guard Dyani Ananiev, Dallow’s teammate and friend, says her energy is unmatched and often a motivating factor for her and other girls on the team.
“Flo [Dallow] is just one of the funniest people to be around,” Ananiev said. “She’s always having fun. And then when we get to game day, she brings a bunch of energy and everyone bounces off her. She’s always aggressive and playing hard and that kind of helps our team get going.”
Ananiev, an Australian international student, connects with Dallow through their shared feelings of homesickness.
“It’s kind of having family away from home,” Ananiev said. “Flo and I, we understand each other. We understand each other’s situations, and we help each other get through homesickness and whatever else it is that we’re going through.”
As Ananiev missed much of last season with shin issues, the two players also bonded through their shared struggle off the court.
“I think we really became super close just being out of practice almost every day and being able to sit next to each other during the games,” Ananiev said.“Going through that season of not playing, when we both were expected to play, it was tough.”
Ananiev says that on the court, Dallow’s persistence is what gives the team the boost of morale they need.
“Being able to play with her and seeing that she’s not giving up, whether we’re down 20 or up 50, whatever the score is, she just does not give up, and I think that really helps me and the other girls,” Ananiev said.
Evan Guerra
On Feb. 28, Dallow scored 15 points in the fourth quarter against Gonzaga, including a game-tying three to send the game to overtime. The Pilots eventually won 92-91 for their first win over the Bulldogs since 2009.
“The game was very competitive, and there was so much heart and teamwork on the court,” Dallow said. “It was super cool seeing all the girls come together and hustle together.”
Dallow finished the regular season with 10 points a game and led the team with 5.2 rebounds a contest. She was named West Coast Conference (WCC) Player of the Week on Feb. 9 after a crucial 18 point, eight rebound performance that gave the Pilots their first home win over Oregon State since 2002.
Dallow displayed her versatility in a Feb. 26 loss to Pepperdine when she put up 15 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five steals. Not only was this her first career double-double, but the first such statline posted by a WCC player in conference history.
But when she’s not leading on the court, you will most likely find Dallow with a cup of coffee. As a coffee aficionado, she prefers making and perfecting it at home.
“[After class] I’ll go home and make myself some breakfast and a coffee,” Dallow said. “I love coffee. I have a coffee machine. It’s kind of like an espresso [machine], and I like to grind the beans up [myself] and all that stuff.”
Like her coffee-making, Dallow aims to perfect her basketball skills for the next season and hopes the team continues to grow stronger going forward.
“Unfortunately, we had so many injuries with a lot of our players, so every game we basically had a new starting team,” Dallow said. “[Hopefully] next year, we’re gonna have a super strong team with everyone healthy, and we have all these amazing freshmen that are gonna come up. I’m super excited about [that].”
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