Pilots (15-14, 5-9 WCC) at San Diego (16-12, 7-7 WCC)

Thursday • March 6, 2008 • 6:00 p.m.

San Diego, Calif. (Jenny Craig Pavilion - 5,100) 

Live Audio: portlandpilots.com

Live Stats: wccsports.com

Series: POR leads 28-22

Last Meeting: USD 62, POR 52 (Feb. 14, 2008 at Portland)

 

About the Pilots

The Portland Pilots (15-14, 5-9 WCC) travel to San Diego, Calif., this week for the 2008 West Coast Conference Tournament. The Pilots received the No. 6 seed and will open with a first-round game against No. 3 seed and tournament host San Diego (16-12, 7-7 WCC) at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.

               

A free live audio broadcast of all of Portland’s games at the WCC tourney will be available at portlandpilots.com. The WCC with provide livestats throughout the tournament at wccsports.com.

               

Portland dropped its final two games of the regular season on the road last weekend. On Thursday, the Saint Mary’s Gaels overcame a career-high 24 points from Portland junior forward Allyson Sievers to hand the Pilots a 64-58 loss in Moraga, Calif. On Saturday, the Santa Clara Broncos defeated Portland 76-62 in Santa Clara, Calif. Sophomore guard Laiken Dollente led the Pilots with 16 points, while senior guard Rachel Stratton had her best game of the year, finishing with a season-high 13 points.

               

Dollente joined senior center Rachel Warren and junior forward Karlie Burris to earn All-WCC honorable mention. Dollente was named to the all-conference first team and all-freshman team last season, while Warren earned all-league honorable mention in 2006 as well. This is the first WCC honor for Burris.

               

Dollente leads the Pilots in scoring with a 14.4 points per game average. She leads the league and ranks second in the nation in free throw accuracy, going 131-for-144 (.910) from the line. She has hit 20 straight from the line and has missed just four free throws (55-for-59, .932) during conference games.

               

Warren leads UP with three double-doubles this winter and is second on the team with a 9.0 points per game average. She also leads the team in rebounding (6.2 rpg). Junior forward Allyson Sievers is putting up 8.9 points, while averaging 10.9 during league contests.

               

As a team, the Pilots rank 11th in the country in free throw shooting with a percentage of 77.0 (399-for-518).

               

Earlier this season, head coach Jim Sollars picked up his 300th career victory at UP with an 80-78 win at home over the San Francisco Dons in front of 1,218 fans on Feb. 16. Sollars, whose 132 WCC wins are more conference wins than any coach in the 20-year history of the league, is in his 22nd season on The Bluff. In 31-plus years as a collegiate women’s basketball head coach, Sollars has posted a 477-414 overall record. He is 300-332 all-time at Portland.

 

About San Diego

The Toreros finished the season strong, winning seven of their final nine games. Last weekend, USD lost 65-51 to Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., and defeated Loyola Marymount 63-55 in Los Angeles. In the win over LMU, junior center Amber Sprague had 12 points and 11 boards, while senior guard Amanda Rego scored 10 points with 11 assists.

               

Rego (10.1 ppg) is one of four Toreros averaging double figures in scoring.  Sprague, who is averaging a double-double (14.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg) during WCC contests, is USD’s overall leading scorer with a 15.8 points per game mark. Sprague is the conference’s top rebounder, averaging 9.0 boards per game. Junior forward Kiva Herman and freshman Sam Child are averaging 12.3 points and 10.2, respectively. Rego ranks second in the country in assists (8.4 apg).

               

Head coach Cindy Fisher, the 2007 WCC Coach of the Year, is in her third season at the helm of the San Diego women’s basketball program. Eight letterwinners and three starters returned from a team that won a school-record 21 games and went to the WNIT last season.

 

Pilots/Toreros Series

Portland defeated San Diego 76-75 in overtime on Jan. 19 in San Diego. Allyson Sievers notched her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 boards during the win. The Toreros then defeated the Pilots 62-52 in Portland on Feb. 14. UP leads the all-time series with USD 28-22 and is 7-15 against the Toreros in games played in San Diego.

 

The WCC Tourney

The 2008 West Coast Conference Tournament begins with all eight conference squads in action on Thursday. The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, while the conference championship is slated for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Teams will be re-seeded following the first round.

               

The Pilots are 13-15 all-time at the WCC Tournament in 16 seasons. The Pilots won their only tournament championship in 1994. The Pilots last won a WCC tournament game in 2004, when they defeated San Diego 76-64 in Santa Clara, Calif.

               

Gonzaga knocked the Pilots out of the 2007 tourney in the first round with an 68-55 win at the Chiles Center in Portland.

 

WCC Accolades

Senior center Rachel Warren, junior forward Karlie Burris and sophomore guard Laiken Dollente each earned All-West Coast Conference women’s basketball honorable mention.

               

Warren, a native of Brisbane, Australia, was also named honorable mention All-WCC in 2006. She is currently averaging 9.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and leads the team in rebounding, blocks (1.6 bpg) and field goal percentage (.498). Warren has posted three double-doubles this season.

               

A native of Tucson, Ariz., Burris had a break-out season for the Pilots, averaging 7.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists. She leads the Pilots and ranks seventh in the conference in assists per game.

               

Dollente was named to the All-WCC First Team and all-freshman team last season. The native of Yakima, Wash., is Portland’s leading scorer, putting up 14.4 points per game. Dollente currently leads the WCC and ranks second in the nation in free throw percentage, hitting at a 91.0 percent (131-for-144) clip.

 

300 and Counting...

Head coach Jim Sollars, who is in his 22nd year at the helm of the University of Portland women’s basketball team, picked up his 300th career victory at UP with an 80-78 win at home over San Francisco Dons in front of 1,218 fans on Feb 16. In 31-plus years as a collegiate women’s basketball head coach, Sollars has posted a 477-414 overall record. He is 300-332 all-time at Portland.

               

Earlier this season, Sollars became the winningest coach in the 20-year history of the West Coast Conference. Sollars picked up his 130th WCC win as the Pilots defeated Saint Mary’s on Feb. 2, moving him past former USF head coach Mary Hile-Nepfel for first place on the WCC all-time list. Sollars currently has 132 WCC victories.

               

During his tenure on The Bluff, Sollars has led the Pilots to four NCAA Tournament berths (1993-97), three WCC regular season titles and one conference tournament title.

 

Money from the Line

The Pilots set a new program record in free throw accuracy by hitting all 17 free throws during an 80-78 win over the San Francisco Dons on Feb. 16. The previous high for free throws without a miss was seven, which Portland set against Cal Poly in 2005. Portland’s 17-for-17 performance also set a Chiles Center record.

               

Sophomore Laiken Dollente led the way on against the Dons by shooting seven-for-seven from the line. Junior Karlie Burris had perhaps the most clutch free throws, as her two with five seconds left proved to be the difference in the game.

               

Portland currently leads the WCC and ranks 11th in the country in free throw accuracy, shooting 77.0 percent (399-518) from the line.