Friday • Dec. 11 • 7:00 p.m. • Moscow, Idaho (Memorial Gym - 1,500)
Live Video: GoVandals.com
Live Stats: N/A
Series: IDAHO leads 17-13
Last Meeting: POR 48, IDAHO 44 - Dec. 28, 2009 @ Portland, Ore.
Pilots (5-3) at Washington State (3-4)
Sunday • Dec. 13 • 1:00 p.m. • Pullman, Wash. (Friel Court - 11,671)
Live Stats: WSUCougars.com
Series: POR leads 4-1
Last Meeting: POR 70, WSU 40 - Nov. 9, 2007 @ Pullman, Wash.
This Week in Pilots Basketball
Portland head coach Jim Sollars will go after career win No. 500 this week as his Pilots travel to Idaho and Washington State. On Friday night, the Vandals (1-8) will host UP at 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Gym in Moscow, Idaho. Then on Sunday, Portland will be in Pullman, Wash., for a 1:00 p.m. game against the Cougars (3-4) at Friel Court.
Sollars is in his 34th year as a head coach and is in his 24th year at the helm of the UP women’s program. He is 499-432 overall, covering his head coaching stints at Wenatchee Valley CC, Portland State and Portland.
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 games are $8. As usual, free audio streams and live stats are available at www.portlandpilots.com.
Friday’s game at Idaho will not have livestats, but the Vandals will provide a live video feed at GoVandals.com. Livestats for Sunday’s game at Washington State can be found at WSUCougars.com. PortlandPilots.com will also provide links to all coverage of all road games throughout the season.
Stay Connected
Fans can now follow the Portland Pilots like never before. Just visit Twitter (@PortlandPilots), facebook (facebook.com/PortlandPilots) and YouTube (youtube.com/UPPurplePride) for access to everything Pilots.
A Brief Look Back
The Pilots went 2-1 last week and have won four of their last five games. On Wednesday, the Oregon Ducks hit 13 three-pointers and got a career-high 32 points from Amanda Johnson during a 95-68 win over Portland at McArthur Court in Eugene. The Ducks built a 17-point lead at the half and never looked back. Portland senior Laiken Dollente hit all three of her three-pointers and shot eight of 10 from the free throw line to score 23 points. Junior Tara Cronin came on strong in the second half to finish with 14 points.
At the Chiles Center on Friday night, sophomore Natalie Day scored 17 points to lead six Pilots in double figures during an 80-66 win over the Pacific Tigers. The Pilots led the Tigers almost from start to finish and enjoyed a double-digit lead for most of the second half. Day did most of her damage in the first half as she had 12 points at the break to help the Pilots lead 32-20. UP featured a balanced scoring attack as Dollente, junior Lauren Angel and sophomore ReZina TecleMariam each finished with 12 points.
Then at home on Sunday, Portland shot a season-high 52 percent from the floor, Dollente matched a season high with 23 points and Day came through with some timely steals and some clutch buckets as the Pilots defeated the Boise State Broncos 76-65. 13 of Day’s 15 points came in the second half to help the Pilots pull away from the Broncos, who were receiving votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls. Dollente hit six of 10 from the field and went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.
About Idaho
The Vandals have lost three straight since defeating Louisiana-Lafayette on Nov. 29. Most recently, Idaho suffered a 74-67 setback to Saint Mary’s in Moscow on Sunday. Junior wing Rachele Kloke leads three Vandals scoring in double figures this season with a 12.0 per game mark, while adding 4.7 boards. Junior post Yinka Olorunnife (6.5 rpg) is the team’s top rebounder. Jon Newlee, who led the Vandals to a 13-15 overall record last year and to a 10-8 mark in the WAC, is in his second year as head coach. Six letterwinners and four starters returned for Idaho this season.
Pilots/Vandals Series
Portland has won 12 of the last 14 meetings with Idaho, but the Vandals still claim a 17-13 overall advantage. Last season, Portland’s Jessica Clemens scored a career-high 17 points to help the Pilots defeat Idaho 48-44. UP is 4-9 all-time against the Vandals in Moscow.
About Washington State
The Cougars are set to play at Montana State on Friday before hosting Portland on Sunday. Last week, Wazzu defeated Wyoming 63-50 and lost to Saint Mary’s 70-80 in Pullman. Guards April Cook, a sophomore, and KiKi Moore, a freshman, lead the Cougars in scoring with per game marks of 15.1 and 14.6, respectively. Sophomore guard Jazmine Perkins leads the team in rebounding (7.4 rpg). Head coach June Daugherty is in her third year at the helm of the Cougs. Eight letterwinners and three starters returned from a team that was 11-19 and 4-14 in the Pac-10 last season.
Pilots/Cougars Series
UP has won four of five meetings all-time against Washington State. The Cougars’ lone win in the series came in Portland during the 1985-86 season. During the most recent meeting in 2007, Portland held Wazzu to 17 percent shooting (8-for-46) en route to a 70-40 win in Pullman.
A Brief Look Ahead
Following its trip to the Inland Empire, Portland returns to the Rose City for a pair of games before Christmas. On Saturday, Dec. 19, the Pilots welcome the Montana Lady Griz to the Chiles Center for a 1:00 p.m. game. Then on Monday, Dec. 21, the Montana State Bobcats visit for a game at 7:00 p.m. The Pilots follow with four straight games on the road before opening play in the West Coast Conference with the game at Gonzaga on Jan. 9.
500
Head coach Jim Sollars enters the week one win shy of reaching an impressive milestone. In 24-plus years as a head women’s basketball coach, Sollars has compiled 499 wins at three different schools. He began his head coaching career in 1976 at Wenatchee Valley Community College, where he tallied 154 wins in seven years. During three years (1983-86) at the helm of Portland State, Sollars added 23 more wins to the resume before moving to The Bluff. While at UP, the native of Longview, Wash., has posted 322 wins. He’s 499-432 (.536) overall, 345-407 (.459) at the NCAA DI level and 322-350 (.479) at Portland. Sollars won his 300th game at UP during the 2007-08 season
He’s easily the most winningest coach in UP program history and with 142 West Coast Conference wins, Sollars has won more WCC games than any other coach in the 22-year history of the conference. During the 2007-08 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.
Rise of the Laiken
Senior guard Laiken Dollente is one of the most prolific scorers in UP program history and she continues to climb up the Portland record books. Last week, Dollente moved up to No. 5 all-time in program history with 1,488 career points. Dollente, who is one of 18 players to reach the 1,000-point plateau at UP, is on pace to finish third all-time in scoring and second at the Division I level. Lorena Legarde (1981-85) is Portland’s all-time leading scorer with 2,568 points, which came when the Pilots played in the NAIA. Martha Sheldon (1988-92) is number two on the list with 1,953 points. Portland moved up to NCAA DI in 1987.
Dollente also currently ranks first all-time at UP in free throw shooting (.873), is second in three-point accuracy (.399) and free throws made (469), ranks third in three-pointers made (161) and is fifth in career points per game (15.0). She recently cracked the top 10 in assists with 300 career dimes, which rank ninth.
This season, Dollente is scoring and spreading the wealth. She leads the team in scoring (15.3 ppg) and ranks second in the WCC with a 4.9 assists per game average.
Alexis: The Pursuit of Perfection
After earning WCC All-Freshman honors last season, sophomore forward Alexis Gannis has taken her game to a new level. Gannis has reached double figures in rebounding four times this season and she dropped a career-high 21 points against Eastern Washington on Nov. 14. The native of Phoenix, Ariz., has also recorded her first two career double-doubles with 10 points and 12 boards at Air Force (Nov. 20) and 19 points and 10 rebounds against Portland State (Nov. 24).
She’s had a career-high 12 rebounds twice and she currently ranks second in the West Coast Conference with a 9.1 per game mark.
WCC Coaches Pick Pilots to Finish Fourth
Portland senior guard Laiken Dollente was voted to the WCC’s Preseason All-Conference team, while Gonzaga was chosen as the favorite to claim the West Coast Conference women’s basketball title for the second straight year in the 2009-10 preseason coaches poll. The Pilots were picked to finish fourth.
Seize the Day
The NCAA waived its one-year residence requirement for sophomore transfer Natalie Day and she is taking full advantage. Day is tied for second on the Pilots in scoring with a 12.1 per game mark. She is also averaging 4.3 rebounds per game and is shooting .450 from the field. During Portland’s last two games, both wins, Day has made 14 of 27 shots (.519) and is averaging 16 points.
The guard/forward transferred to UP from Howard University and was expected to sit out the entire year. She has three years of eligibility remaining.
Two Sports? No Problem
Junior Jessica Clemens is now in her third 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 earlier this month. She’s already recorded a career high with nine rebounds against Pacific on Dec. 4.
In 21 games last season, Clemens averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. She scored in double figures three times as a sophomore, twice scoring a career-high 13 points.
