Mother-Daughter Hoops Legacycle

EARLIER THIS YEAR, Lainey Spear ’27 came just one steal shy of breaking the single-game record for steals by a Pilot. Only three Pilots have recorded more steals in a game than her. One of those Pilots is her mom. 

Kristin (Hepton) Spear ’99 is now the director of the Sport Oregon Foundation and is a member of the UP Hall of Fame. Her team won two WCC Tournament titles with the Pilots from 1995-99 and she was a 1,000-point scorer for her career, ranking 17th all-time. Lainey has cemented her own legacy in her three years on The Bluff. She won a WCC Tournament title in 2024 and a WCC regular season title in the 2024-25 season, and that 2024-25 team was one of the most accomplished in program history, winning a program-record 31 games. 

Both have been a part of the most successful stretches in Pilot basketball history, and both are believers in the tools UP has given them. Portland isn’t just a place they played basketball; it’s where they’ve grown up as student-athletes, and as people. 

Kristin Spear 

The more the game changes ... It’s a much faster-paced game today. Everybody can shoot, everybody can play multiple positions, everybody can dribble, and I don’t think that’s how the game was when I played. So, it’s cool to watch. It’s definitely progressed. 

... the more it stays the same: The coaching at UP is phenomenal. I was really lucky to have great coaches with Jim Sollars and Kelly Graves and many others, and I think Lainey is really lucky to have great coaches as well. They’re also great people. Both sets of coaches genuinely care about the kids now and back when I played. That’s not always the case. 

Mom loved to shoot: (Laughs) I would say that defense was not my specialty… I liked to shoot the ball. My dad told me early on, “They passed you the ball for a reason, shoot it.” So that was kind of my MO. Lainey is probably one of the best defensive players in the league. She’s so talented in that space, and it’s so cool to watch. I mean, I envy her. I wish I played defense like she does. 

Pilot fans are the best: There are fans that go to the women’s games now that watched me play. I would imagine there aren’t a lot of programs where that can be said. That’s pretty cool. It speaks to the people and the culture of the school. It’s a well-connected community. 

Lainey Spear 

Intergenerational work ethic: When I started playing basketball competitively, my mom just instilled this work ethic in me that I feel sets me apart from a lot of people. I always give my all in everything I do, not just athletics, in academics, too. 

High expectations: My freshman year, I didn’t play a lot, but even just being a part of that practice environment set the expectation that we win the conference tournament every year. Mike (Meek) and the girls before me—like Haylee Andrews, Alex Fowler—really set that expectation, and I think it’s important that my class and the classes after me keep playing to that expectation. 

Good vibes: All the student-athlete teams really get along. We hang out and it’s just like a really good vibe. I have a lot of close relationships here, and it’s the same with professors and the rest of the athletic department. I’m not sure big schools and other schools get to have those relationships. 

On legacy: I want to leave a legacy that says: “I’m a really good person, I’m a good teammate, and I’m a good person for fans to interact with.” At the end of the day the way we carry ourselves is bigger than basketball… The girls before me did that, our group is doing that right now, and I want that to continue on. My mom did that too. 

On (almost) breaking her mom’s steal record: I didn’t even know I had that many steals. I was just playing (laughs). I got taken out because we were up by so much in that game. It would have been cool to beat the record, but that’s okay, maybe next year. 

KYLE GARCIA ’20 is University of Portland’s Assistant Athletic Director, Communications.