Monday • Jan. 26, 2009 • 7:00 p.m.
Eugene, Ore. (McArthur Court - 9,087)
Series: ORE leads 20-4
Last Meeting: POR 78, ORE 74 (Dec. 2, 2007 - Portland, Ore.)
This Week in Pilots Basketball
The Portland Pilots (10-9, 3-2 West Coast Conference) have a busy slate this week with three games on the road. First, the Pilots travel to Eugene, Ore., on Monday for a non-conference tilt against the Oregon Ducks (7-11, 4-4 Pac-10) at McArthur Court at 7:00 p.m. The UP-UO game was originally scheduled for Dec. 22, but was postponed due to the winter weather.
The Pilots then return to the WCC with games at San Diego and at Saint Mary’s on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Game Coverage
All women’s basketball home games are video streamed live at www.pilotsvideo.com. A season pass is available for $50, while single-game are $8. As usual, free audio streams and live stats are available at www.portlandpilots.com. UP will provide a free audio broadcast of the non-conference game at Oregon at 7:00 p.m. Monday night.
A Brief Look Back
The Pilots bounced back from a loss to Loyola Marymount on Thursday with a huge 59-56 win over the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday afternoon at the Chiles Center. The Pilots and Waves entered the match-up with identical overall and league records. Sophomore Tara Cronin broke a 54-54 tie with a lay-up with 18 seconds remaining in the game. Junior Laiken Dollente then hit three free throws and grabbed a crucial rebound to help seal the win. Portland, which built a 15-point lead in the first half, led almost the entire game before Pepperdine jumped ahead 52-50 with 2:38 left in the game. Dollente would then hit four straight free throws to help UP re-claim the lead before Pepperdine’s Jazmine Jackson tied the game at 54-54 with two from the line. Dollente finished with a game-high 14 points.
At the Chiles Center on Thursday night, the Pilots hung around for most of the game before LMU pulled away down the stretch en route to a 64-53 win. The Pilots were within five points late in the game, but LMU would finish on a 12-6 run. Cronin hit eight of 11 shots to finish with a game-high 18 points.
About Oregon
Portland is the only WCC opponent the Ducks will face this season. Oregon has lost two straight games after winning two in a row. Last week in Eugene, Oregon lost 85-67 to 11th-ranked Stanford and 65-50 to No. 6 Cal. Junior guard Micaela Cocks leads the Ducks in scoring with a 14.3 points per game mark. Junior guard Taylor Lilley is also averaging double figures (12.2) in points, while junior forward Amanda Johnson is averaging a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game. Bev Smith is in her eighth year as head coach at Oregon. The Ducks went 14-17 overall last year and finished seventh in the Pac-10 with a 7-11 league mark. Eight letterwinners and three starters returned this winter.
Pilots/Ducks Series
Monday’s game is the 25th meeting all-time between the Ducks and Pilots, with Oregon claiming a 20-4 advantage. Last season, Laiken Dollente (21 pts) led four Pilots in double figures during a 78-74 UP win over Oregon at the Chiles Center. Portland is 0-13 all-time against the Ducks in Eugene.
A Brief Look Ahead
Portland returns to WCC action later this week with a pair of tough road games. On Thursday, the Pilots travel to San Diego, Calif., to play the San Diego Toreros at 7:00 p.m. Then on Saturday, UP heads north to face the Saint Mary’s Gaels in Moraga, Calif., at 2:00 p.m. The Pilots, Toreros and Gaels are all 3-2 in the WCC. Saint Mary’s is 7-13 overall after defeating San Diego (12-7) 76-74 in double overtime in Moraga on Saturday.
The Pilots then take a week off from action before heading to Spokane, Wash., for a game against first-place Gonzaga on Sunday, Feb. 8. The next home game for Portland is set for Thursday, Feb. 12 against San Francisco.
To New Beginnings
Portland, which is 3-2 and tied for second place the WCC, is off to its best start in conference play since the 1996-97 team opened the league slate at 5-0. That squad would finish with a perfect 14-0 WCC record and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Portland’s 3-2 league record is the fifth best beginning to league play since the Pilots joined the WCC in women’s hoops in 1987-88.
Each Win Brings A New Record
Head coach Jim Sollars, who has won 135 West Coast Conference games with the Pilots, currently has more WCC wins than any other coach in the 21-year history of the conference. Last season, Sollars picked up his record-breaking 130th WCC win against Saint Mary’s on Feb. 2, moving him past former USF head coach Mary Hile-Nepfel for first place on the league’s all-time list. Sollars also won his 300th game at UP last year and is currently 310-342 (.475) all-time at Portland. Sollars, who coached at Portland State before moving to UP, has 333 total wins at the NCAA DI level and 487 wins overall.
West Coast Cronin
5-10 sophomore guard Tara Cronin, who has been Portland’s top rebounder all season, has stepped up offensively five games into the conference slate. Cronin has reached double figures in scoring four times and is currently averaging 14.0 points per WCC contest. After opening with 13 points against Gonzaga on Jan. 10, the native of Spokane, Wash., notched 12 points at San Francisco on Jan. 15 and a career-high 20 points at Santa Clara on Jan. 17. She then poured in 18 points on eight of 11 shooting against LMU on Thursday night.
On the season, Cronin is putting up 9.4 points per game, which ranks second on the team. Earlier this year, Cronin scored 11 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds during a win at Utah State on Nov. 14 for her first career double-double. Cronin has led the Pilots in rebounding a team-high nine times this year. Her average of 6.1 rebounds per game leads the Pilots and ranks 11th in the WCC.
A Perfect Half
After trailing by 12 at the half against the Manhattan Jaspers at the Chiles Center on Dec. 19, the Pilots had perhaps one of the greatest second halves of basketball in program history. Portland outscored Manhattan by 30 points after the break to pick up an 84-66 win. UP’s 58 points in the second half are a program record at the NCAA Division I level for points in a half. The Pilots have previously scored 54 points in a half three times, most recently during the 1998 season. UP scored 66 points during a half in 1983 while competing at the NAIA level.
Portland, which shot 61.3 percent (19-for-31) in the second half and 51.7 percent (30-for-58) for the game, outscored Manhattan 58-28 in the second half. The Pilots also had a remarkable 24 assists on 30 field goals.
Junior guard Laiken Dollente was her usual self, leading the Pilots with a game-high 25 points. Dollente also shared the wealth with nine assists. Her nine dimes are the most for a Pilot since Da’Love Woods accomplished the feat in 2001.
1,000 Points of Light
With nine points against Portland State on Nov. 26, junior guard Laiken Dollente became the 18th player in UP program history to score 1,000 career points. The native of Yakima, Wash., needed just 66 games to reach the 1,000-point plateau, becoming the second quickest player to reach the landmark in Portland’s history at the Division I level. Amy Claboe (1993-95) reached the mark in her first 59 career games on The Bluff. Dollente, who currently has 1,188 career points, became the first Portland player to reach the mark since Whitney Grant concluded her career in 2006 with 1,138 points.
Lorena Legarde (1981-85) is Portland’s all-time leading scorer with 2,568 points. Martha Sheldon (1988-1992), who racked up 1,953 career points, is UP’s all-time leading NCAA DI scorer, as Portland competed at the NAIA level during Legarde’s career. Dollente currently sits at No. 12 on the all-time scoring list and is 57 points shy of moving up to 11th.
The Century Club x 2
Portland’s 63-59 win at home against Sacramento State on Nov. 30 was the 200th win ever at the Chiles Center. In the 24-year history of the facility, the Pilots have compiled a 204-120 record for a winning percentage of .630. The Pilots went 9-6 at the friendly confines last season and are 5-4 at home this year.
Two Sports? No Problem
Sophomore Jessica Clemens is now in her second year as a two-sport athlete at the University of Portland. Clemens, who is an outside hitter on the UP volleyball team, joined the Pilots in December and made an immediate impact. During Portland’s win over Idaho on Dec. 28, the native of Burns, Ore., scored a career-high 17 points to go along with a career-best six rebounds. The next time out, Clemens scored 11 points and swiped a career-high six steals to help UP defeat Utah Valley on Dec. 31.
During the 2008 volleyball season, Clemens finished with 271 kills and 288 digs. She also had a team-high 29 service aces.
Rise of the Laiken
In her third season on The Bluff, junior guard Laiken Dollente has already established herself as one of the most prolific scorers in program history. On Nov. 26, Dollente became the 18th player in UP women’s basketball history to score 1,000 career points. Now with 1,188 career points, she ranks No. 12 on UP’s all-time scoring list. She also ranks first all-time at UP in free throw shooting (.881), ranks third in three-point accuracy (.391), free throws made (386) and three-pointers made (126) and is fifth in career points per game (15.0).
Dollente has been a scoring machine this season, leading the Pilots in points 11 times. She is averaging 15.6 points per game, which ranks seventh in the WCC, has games of 21, 27, 22, 26 and 25 points and has reached double figures 14 times.
As a sophomore, she led the Pilots and ranked seventh in the WCC in scoring with a 14.6 points per game mark, scored in double figures in all but seven games, scored at least 20 points eight times and led the Pilots in scoring 18 times. Dollente also finished second in the nation and set a UP single-season record in free throw shooting, hitting 139 of 152 (.914) from the line.
Leaving Their Mark
A couple of other Pilots have joined Dollente in the UP record books. Sophomore Tara Cronin ranks third in free throw percentage (.820), senior Karlie Burris is fourth in three-point percentage (.390) and eighth with 297 career assists, senior Carly Koebel is sixth with 97 career blocks and sophomore Lauren Angel ranks ninth with a career field goal percentage of .471.
Among the Conference Elite
Junior Laiken Dollente, who ranks fifth in the WCC in scoring with a 15.6 points per game average, is one of a handful of Pilots making an appearance among the conference’s statistical leaders. Dollente ranks fourth in the league in free throw accuracy (.824), is tied for fourth in three-pointers made (30), is tied for sixth in assists per game (3.0) and is eighth in three-point percentage (.330). Senior Karlie Burris is second in assist-turnover ratio (1.86), is third in assists (3.6) and ranks fifth in steals (2.2) and three-point accuracy (.388). Sophomore guard Tara Cronin ranks second in free throw percentage (.828), is eighth in steals (1.9) and ranks 11th in boards per game (6.1). Senior Carly Koebel is third in blocks per game (1.9) and sophomore Lauren Angel is ninth in field goal percentage (.461).
As a team, Portland is second in the WCC in scoring defense (60.2 ppg), three-point field goal percentage (.333) and assists per game (13.68).
WCC Coaches Pick Pilots to Finish Seventh
The Gonzaga Bulldogs were chosen as the favorite to win their fifth straight WCC women’s basketball regular season title. Loyola Marymount received one first place vote and totaled 40 points to come in at second in the voting. The Pilots were tabbed to finish seventh, while junior guard Laiken Dollente was voted to the WCC’s preseason all-conference team.
