Thursday • Jan. 28 • 7:00 p.m. • Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center - 4,852)
Live Video: PilotsVideo.com
Live Audio/Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: Tied 24-24
Last Season: POR 68, @USF 50; @POR 79, USF 41
Pilots (13-7, 2-3 WCC) vs Santa Clara (3-17, 1-4 WCC)
Saturday • Jan. 30 • 2:00 p.m. • Portland, Ore. (Chiles Center - 4,852)
Live Video: PilotsVideo.com
Live Audio/Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Series: SCU Leads 29-22
Last Season: POR 50, @SCU 38; @POR 61, SCU 53
This Week in Pilots Basketball
Fresh off two conference road wins, the Portland Pilots (13-7, 2-3 WCC) return home this week to host the San Francisco Dons (4-18, 0-5 WCC) and the Santa Clara Broncos (3-17, 1-4 WCC) in a pair of West Coast Conference games at the Chiles Center. Thursday’s game against the Dons is set for 7:00 p.m., while Saturday’s tip-off with the Broncos is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
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.
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
Last week, the Pilots defeated the Loyola Marymount Lions and the Pepperdine Waves on the same road trip for the first time since the 1996-97 season. In Los Angeles, Calif., on Thursday night, the Pilots led by double digits during most of the second half at LMU before holding on for a 94-91 win. The 94 points are the most scored in a conference game by the Pilots since dropping 101 on LMU back in 1996. UP also shot an astounding 61.8 percent (34-for-55) from the field and were led by sophomore forward Alexis Gannis, who registered her fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 boards. Sophomore wing Natalie Day added 18 points as five Pilots scored in double figures.
On Saturday, Day put on a clinic in Malibu as she schooled Pepperdine for a career-high 28 points during Portland’s 82-76 overtime win. Day hit 11 of 15 from the field, went 4-for-5 from downtown and connected on both of her free throws. Nine of her points came in overtime.
About San Francisco
The Dons have dropped 11 straight games after falling 54-47 at Santa Clara last weekend. Sophomore guard Rheina Ale led USF with 11 points against the Broncos and is averaging a team-best 13.9 points per game this season. As a team, the Dons are averaging just 54.5 points per contest, while allowing 66.6. Junior forward Donnisha Taylor is the team’s top rebounder, grabbing an average of 7.4 boards per game. Tanya Haave is in her fourth season as head coach of the Dons. USF returned six letterwinners and four starters from a team that was 7-22 last season and finished seventh in the WCC with a 3-11 league mark.
Pilots/Dons Series
Portland won both meetings against San Francisco last season to tie the all-time series at 24-24. The Pilots were dominant defensively against the Dons last year, posting a 68-50 win in San Francisco and a 79-41 victory at the Chiles Center.
About Santa Clara
The Broncos snapped a 10-game losing streak last weekend with a 54-47 win at home over the San Francisco Dons. Freshman guard Meagan Fulps, who is one of three Broncos scoring in double figures (11.8 ppg), led the way against the Dons with 18 points. Sophomore guard Alyssa Shoji is the team’s leading scorer (13.5 ppg), while junior forward Lena Gipson is the team’s and league’s top rebounder with a 9.9 per game mark. Head coach Jennifer Mountain (2nd year) returned eight letterwinners and three starters from last year, when the Broncos were 4-17 overall and 1-13 for an eighth-place finish in the WCC.
Pilots/Broncos Series
The Pilots won both meetings against Santa Clara last season, but the Broncos still lead the all-time series 29-22. Last winter, UP defeated SCU 50-38 in Santa Clara, Calif., and 61-53 at the Chiles Center.
A Brief Look Ahead
Following its two home games this weekend, Portland begins its second swing through the WCC by hosting the first-place Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Chiles Center on Sunday, Feb. 6. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. The Pilots then head back on the road for league games at San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 11 and at Saint Mary’s on Saturday, Feb. 13.
Quite the Trip
Portland’s two-game swing through soggy Southern California last week was a historical one for the Pilots. It marked the first time Portland won at both LMU and Pepperdine on the same trip since 1997.
During the 94-91 win at LMU on Thursday, the Pilots shot 61.8 percent (34-for-55) from the floor, setting a program single-game record at the NCAA Division I level. As an NAIA school, UP shot .644 against Humboldt State during the 1985-86 season. The Pilots moved up to NCAA DI a season later.
The 94 points scored were also the most scored by the Pilots in a WCC game since registering 101 in 1996, also against the Lions.
Money from the Line
Laiken Dollente, who is the most accurate free throw shooter in UP program history with a career percentage of .878, has been money from the line once again and ranks No. 3 in the nation in accuracy this season. The senior guard has made 92 of 101 attempts this winter for a percentage of .911, which ranks behind only Kelsey Luna (70-for-74, .946) of Indiana State and Audrey McDonald (48-for-51, .941). Dollente finished second in the country in free throw shooting as a sophomore.
As a team, the Pilots rank ninth in the nation with a free throw percentage of .768 (252-for-328).
Career Builder
With 11 points at Seattle on Sunday, Jan. 3, senior guard Laiken Dollente moved up to No. 3 all-time in career scoring at the University of Portland. Now with 1,687 career points, Dollente sits behind only Martha Sheldon (1,953) and UP’s all-time overall leading scorer Lorena Legarde (2,568). Sheldon (1988-92) is Portland’s all-time leading scorer at the NCAA Division I level as Legarde’s (1981-85) career took place when UP was still competing as an NAIA school.
Dollente, a native of Yakima, Wash., also currently ranks first all-time at UP in free throw shooting (.878) and three-point accuracy (.414), is second in free throws (516) and three-pointers made (195), is fifth in career points per game (15.2) and is seventh in assists (358). She recently cracked the top 10 in field goals made with 488 career makes, which rank tenth.
Seize the Day
Before the season began, the NCAA waived its one-year residence requirement for sophomore transfer Natalie Day and she is taking full advantage. Day is coming off a huge weekend and she is currently second on the Pilots in scoring with a 12.2 per game mark, while averaging 4.1 rebounds per game. She has scored in double figures 12 times.
During Portland’s two road wins last week, Day shot 17-for-24 (.708) from the field and averaged 23.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. She also hit six of nine (.667) three-pointers and went 6-for-7 at the free throw line. Against Pepperdine on Saturday, Day poured in a career-high 28 points on 11 of 15 shooting. She also went 4-for-5 on three-pointers, hit both of her free throws and scored nine points in overtime to help the Pilots to an 82-76 win over the Waves.
The guard/forward from Germantown, Md., transferred to UP from Howard University and was expected to sit out the entire year. She will have two years of eligibility remaining following the season.
The Laik Show
This season, Laiken Dollente is scoring, spreading the wealth and crashing the glass. She leads the team and ranks third in the WCC in scoring (16.1 ppg) and is second in the league in assists (4.9 apg). She also leads the league in free throw percentage (.911) and is second in three-point percentage (.462), while ranking third and 11th nationally, respectively.
Dollente is averaging a career-best 4.1 rebounds per game and her 31 points against Montana State on Dec. 21 are the second most scored in a game by a WCC player this season. It’s the third time in her career to score at least 30 points and the first since scoring 30 at San Francisco on Jan. 27, 2007.
She also handed out a career-high 10 assists during the win at Utah Valley on Dec. 29, becoming the first UP player to dish 10 assists in a game since Trisha Felts accomplished the feat on Feb. 26, 2000. Dollente also scored 19 points at UVU for her second career double-double.
Dollente has been named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week twice this season.
500 and Counting
Head coach Jim Sollars notched career win No. 500 when the Pilots defeated the Idaho Vandals 67-56 on Nov. 11 in Moscow, Idaho. In 34-plus years as a head women’s basketball coach, Sollars has compiled 507 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 330 wins.
He’s easily the most winningest coach in UP program history and with 144 West Coast Conference wins, Sollars has won more WCC games than any other coach in the 22-year history of the conference.
On Point
It’s no secret that Portland’s recent success has coincided with the improved and consistent play of sophomore point guard ReZina TecleMariam. Z is averaging career bests of 8.6 points per game, 5.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists. After grabbing nine rebounds during UP’s win at Idaho (Dec. 11), the native of Puyallup, Wash., ripped down a career-high 11 boards in the victory at Washington State (Dec. 13). On Nov. 22, she scored a career-high 18 points during a 98-63 win over Sacramento State. During UP’s last three games, TecleMariam is averaging 14.7 points per game.
Perhaps her most impressive stat-lines this year were at Idaho (10 pts, 9 rebs, 6 assts, 0 TO’s, 40 mins) and at Seattle (13 pts, 9 rebs, 7 assts, 1 TO, 43 mins).
West Coast Cronin
While having her usual all-around solid season, junior guard Tara Cronin has stepped up her play during the WCC schedule. Averaging 9.3 points per game on the year, against WCC foes Cronin is putting up 12.2 points. Among the league leaders in turnover-assist ratio all season long, the Spokane, Wash., native currently ranks third with a ratio of 1.5. She is also fourth in assists (3.2 apg), giving the Pilots three players in the top four in that category, with Dollente ranking second (4.9 apg) and TecleMariam third (3.9 apg).
A Career Year
Junior post Lauren Angel, who ranks third on the ream in scoring (10.5 ppg), has been a steady presence down low for the Pilots. She’s scored in double figures 12 times this season, while she scored eight points four times. Angel, a native of Wollongong, Australia, has matched career highs this season in points (18 vs. Portland State) and assists (3 vs. Pacific) while setting career highs in rebounds (11 vs. Utah State), steals (4 vs. Utah State) and blocks (4 vs. Sacramento State). She also recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 11 boards against Utah State on Nov. 16.
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 six 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 four career double-doubles.
She currently ranks fourth in the West Coast Conference with a 7.6 per game mark and she is fifth on the team in scoring (8.9 ppg).
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 in early December and is averaging career bests of 5.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 15 games. A native of Burns, Ore., and the sister of NFL quarterback Kellen Clemens, Jessica recorded a career high with 10 rebounds against Utah Valley on Dec. 29. She scored a season-high 14 points at LMU on Thursday.
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.
Nearly a Chalupa
Portland just missed reaching the century mark for the first time in 12 years when it defeated the Sacramento State Hornets 98-63 at the Chiles Center on Nov. 22. The point total is the highest for the Pilots since a 107-74 win over Idaho on Jan. 4, 1997.
Five Pilots reached double figures during the win, with Dollente leading the way with 19 points. UP outscored Sac State 55-33 during the second half to match a program DI record for points in a half.
