The Portland women’s basketball team has a busy week, hosting a pair of Mountain West Conference schools before beginning a five-game road trip on Sunday. Portland (2-2) hosts Brigham Young (2-1) on Tuesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Chiles Center. The Pilots will then take on Air Force (1-3) at home on Thursday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. before traveling to Missoula in a matchup with Montana (3-1) on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.
INJURY REPORT: Preliminary exams indicate that senior guard Hanna Seltzer and freshman guard Amanda Afa’ese both suffered torn anterior cruciate ligaments in their right knees against Cal Poly on Friday. Both players went down within a four-minute stretch early in the first half and will not be available this week.
A QUICK LOOK AT PORTLAND: The Pilots evened their record at 2-2 by following a 55-51 home loss to Cal Poly on Friday with a 66-59 victory at Portland State on Saturday. The Pilots committed 39 turnovers and made just 8-of-14 free-throws against the Mustangs, but further felt the loss as guards Hanna Seltzer and Amanda Afa’ese went down with early injuries. Jamie Medley led Portland with 14 points, while Ashlee Orndorff grabbed 10 rebounds in the lass. The shorthanded Pilots used a 9-2 run late in the game and converted 11-of-14 free-throws down the stretch to secure the win over the Vikings the following day. Medley recorded her second double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds and Orndorff tallied 13 points and 12 boards to lead the Pilots past an undersized PSU squad.
Through four games, Jamie Medley is averaging 14 points and 9.3 rebounds per game to lead the Pilots. Orndorff, voted as a top five returning player in the WCC by league coaches, has a balanced stat line of 10.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 3.7 blocks per game. Junior point guard Whitney Grant averages 9.8 points, while freshman forward Meagan Bermingham has a team-leading 16 assists and has started all four contests. As a team, Portland is shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from three-point range but turnovers have been costly with a 23.3 per game average.
The Pilots return three starters, eight letterwinners and add seven newcomers to this year’s roster. Last year, the Pilots finished the season with a 14-15 overall record and a fourth place WCC finish with an 8-6 mark. It was the first time the Pilots finished in the upper-half of the league since the 1998-99 season (t-4th), and first winning record in conference since a 9-5 mark in 1997-98.
Head coach Jim Sollars enters his 19th season at the helm of the Portland with a 267-254 (.512) career overall record and a 123-115 (.517) career WCC record. His 123 wins in the WCC is the most conference wins of any coach in WCC history.
In a preseason vote of the league’s eight head coaches, the Pilots were picked to finish in eighth-place in this year’s WCC race.
COMING UP: Portland continues its five-game road trip at Montana State on Tuesday, Dec. 7 and at Eastern Washington on Saturday, Dec. 11. The Pilots wrap up the trip at UC Davis on Dec. 18 and at Tulane on Dec. 21.
ABOUT BRIGHAM YOUNG: BYU finished the 2003-04 season 15-14 year and 5-9 (5th) in the Mountain West Conference. The last match between the Pilots and Cougars was a 62-57 loss during the 1998-1999 season in Provo. Head Coach Jeff Judkins is in his fourth year with the Cougars with a 60-36 career and school record. The Cougars return four starters, eight letterwinners and add five newcomers to this year’s team.
BYU started the season with three home games, defeating Southern Utah (76-56) and Nevada (81-64), before falling to Arizona on Saturday, 76-73. The Cougars are averaging 76.7 points per game and shooting 46.4 percent from the field. Mallary Gillespie and Ambrosia Anderson are the Cougars leading scorers at 14.0 points per game off the bench. Danielle Cheesman is averaging 9.7 points and 10.3 rebounds. Eleven BYU players have seen action in all three games with eight Cougars averaging over 11 minutes per contest.
ABOUT AIR FORCE: The Falcons posted a 3-25 record last season including a 57-51 win over Portland at Clune Arena. Air Force returns nine letterwinners, three starters and adds seven newcomers to this year’s team, which has started out 1-3. After dropping a season-opening overtime thriller to Montana State 74-73, the Falcons defeated UC Davis 75-61. Last week, Air Force suffered two losses at the Northern Arizona Thanksgiving Tournament, falling to New Mexico State (53-42) and Albany (86-65). The Falcons are shooting just 39 percent from the field and are averaging 21 turnovers per contest. Head coach Ardie McInelly is in her fourth year at the helm of the Falcons’ program. She has compiled an overall record of 15-73 while at the Academy and holds a career record of 92-135. Freshman forward Alecia Steele leads Air Force with 11.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
ABOUT MONTANA: The Lady Griz are off to a 3-1 start with victories over Pepperdine, East Carolina and Montana-Western. Montana’s only loss came against Long Beach State on the road by a 71-63 margin. Head coach Robin Selvig is in his 27th season at Montana and posts a 605-174 career mark. Selvig guided the Lady Griz to a 27-5 record in 2003-04 and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. He returns eight starters and three letterwinners from that squad in addition to five newcomers. Montana has held opponents to 36.3 percent shooting and are forcing 20.8 turnovers per game. Junior center Hollie Tyler is averaging 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds, while Katie Edwards and Johanna Closson are averaging 11.5 and 10.5 points, respectively.
THE SERIES: Portland and BYU are knotted at 4-4 in the all-time series. UP defeated BYU, 62-57 the last time they met on Jan. 2, 1999 at the Marriott Center. The Pilots have won the last four games with BYU and are 2-2 at home, 2-1 away and 0-1 at neutral sites. Air Force defeated UP in the school’s first and only meeting, 57-51 last season at Clune Arena. Montana holds an 8-5 edge in the all-time series and have taken four of the last five meetings. Last year, the Lady Griz notched a 66-55 victory over the Pilots at the Chiles Center.
WCC PRESEASON POLL: Portland was picked to finish eighth in the West Coast Conference preseason poll, as selected by the league’s head coaches. Gonzaga returns all five starters and has been tabbed as the conference favorite, while Pepperdine Loyola Marymount and Saint Mary’s round out the top four preseason positions. Santa Clara was picked fifth, followed by San Francisco, San Diego and Portland.
SEEING DOUBLE: Jamie Medley and Ashlee Orndorff both recorded double-doubles at Portland State on Saturday. Medley tied a career-high with 15 points and set a new career mark with 14 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double. Orndorff snagged a career-high 13 boards to go with 11 points, six assists, five steals and three blocks in another solid all-around performance.
FOREIGN FLAVOR FROM DOWN UNDER: Two new faces on the Portland roster this season hail from Australia. Freshman forward Meagan Bermingham and junior center Rachel Warren are both from Melbourne, Australia. Bermingham has earned a starting role, while Warren will have to sit out the 2004-05 season due to transfer residency regulations after spending time at Texas Christian University. Warren will have two years of eligibility with the Pilots beginning next season.
OAKLAND TO JOIN TEAM: Michelle Oakland has decided to join the Portland basketball squad after a successful four-year career with the Pilot volleyball team. Oakland, a third team all-state baller for Redmond High School in 2001, will begin practicing with the hoops team on Dec. 15 and is expected to be available after the new year. Oakland will have two years of eligibility on the basketball court.
THREE RECRUITS SIGN EARLY: The Pilots have signed Allyson Sievers (Kent, Wash./Kentlake HS), Carly Koebel (Seattle, Wash./John F. Kennedy HS) and Jennifer Wassom (Eugene, Ore./Sheldon HS) to national letters of intent, head coach Jim Sollars announced. Sievers (6-1) was a first team all-South Puget Sound League pick as a junior in addition to an all-area selection. Koebel (6-4) earned first team all-Seamount League honors as a junior after averaging 12 points and nine rebounds per game. Wassom (5-11) has started two of her three varsity seasons and is a two-time third team all-Midwestern League selection. She played summer ball for the Oregon Select all-star team and earned all-tournament distinction at the End of the Oregon Trail Tournament.
GRANT, SELTZER CLIMBING 3-POINT CHARTS: Senior guard Hanna Seltzer knocked down 36 three-pointers last season and is fifth on Portland’s career charts for three-point field goals made with 84. Backcourt mate Whitney Grant is also ascending the charts, currently fourth in three-point percentage (.358) and tied for eighth in threes made with 68. Grant led the Pilots in three-point percentage last season, making 34-of-93 attempts for a 36.6 percent clip and is 5-of-11 (.455) this year. Deanna Lansing (1993-97), a Portland Hall of Famer, tops both lists with a 223 career threes and a 40.3 percentage.
HEAD COACH JIM SOLLARS: Jim Sollars enters his 19th season as the head coach of the University of Portland women’s basketball program, his 29th overall season as a collegiate head coach. Last year Sollars led Portland to a fourth-place finish in the WCC with an 8-6 conference record. The Pilots advanced to the semifinals of the WCC Tournament, losing a heartbreaker to top-seeded Loyola Marymount 59-54 in overtime. Under Sollars’ leadership at Portland, 24 players have earned all-West Coast Conference honors, four players have been named the WCC Player of the Year, and he has coached two Pilots (Laura Sale and Deanna Lansing) to honorable mention All-America status.
His players also show excellence in the classroom as he has guided 14 WCC all-Academic Team selections, four CoSIDA/GTE Academic all-District Team picks and one WCC Scholar Athlete of the Year, while two athletes have earned first team GTE Academic All-America honors. The Pilots have made five postseason appearances in the last ten years, most recently in 1998-99 with an appearance in the WNIT in Seattle, Wash. After just missing the NCAA Tournament in 1997-98, Sollars had four consecutive NCAA Tournament berths (1993-97), including the first in school history in 1993-94.
PILOTS ON THE INTERNET: The University of Portland women’s basketball team will have live stats via the internet for all home games at: http://www.portlandpilots.com/livestats/wbball/xlive.htm.
