Thurs. • Feb. 11 • 7:00 p.m. • San Diego, Calif. (Jenny Craig Pavilion - 7,800)
Live Video/Stats: USDToreros.com
Live Audio: PortlandPilots.com
Series: POR leads 29-26
Last Meeting: USD 59, POR 53 - Jan. 14, 2010 (Portland, Ore.)
Pilots (15-8, 4-4 WCC) at Saint Mary’s (17-7, 8-1 WCC)
Sat. • Feb. 13 • 2:00 p.m. • Moraga, Calif. (McKeon Pavilion - 3,840)
Live Audio: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: SMCGaels.com
Series: SMC leads 28-20
Last Meeting: SMC 72, POR 65 - Jan. 16, 2010 (Portland, Ore.)
This Week in Pilots Basketball
The Portland Pilots (15-8, 4-4 WCC) face a pair of key West Coast Conference road games this week as they travel to California to battle the San Diego Toreros (14-9, 6-3 WCC) on Thursday night and the Saint Mary’s Gaels (17-7, 8-1 WCC) on Saturday afternoon. Thursday’s tip-off with the Toreros is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego. Portland then heads to Moraga for a 2:00 p.m. tilt on Saturday against the Gaels.
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.
PortlandPilots.com will provide free audio for both road games this week, while USDToreros.com will have free video and livestats. SMCGaels.com will feature free livestats on Saturday. Links to the video, audio and livestats this week can be found on 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
Portland built a 12-point lead in the first half, but the No. 24 Gonzaga Bulldogs would comeback and prevail 70-58 over the Pilots on Saturday afternoon in front of a season-high 925 fans at the Chiles Center. The loss snapped a four-game UP winning streak.
Both junior post Lauren Angel and sophomore guard ReZina TecleMariam scored a team-high 16 points for the Pilots. Sophomore forward Alexis Gannis registered her team-best sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
About San Diego
The Toreros picked up two conference wins on the road last week, defeating San Francisco 67-52 and Santa Clara 67-58. Sophomore guard Dominique Conners leads four USD players averaging in double figures with a 15.2 points per game mark. Junior guard Sam Child is putting up 12.3 points per game, while junior forward Emily Hatch is the team’s top rebounder (7.2 rpg). Cindy Fisher is in her fifth season as head coach of the Toreros. San Diego returned eight letterwinners and three starters from a team that was 19-13 overall last year and tied for fourth in the WCC with a 7-7 league mark.
Pilots/Toreros Series
San Diego defeated Portland 59-53 at the Chiles Center earlier this season, but the Pilots still lead the overall series 29-26. Last January, Alexis Gannis scored 20 points to help UP win 74-66 at San Diego. The Toreros have since won three straight in the series.
About Saint Mary’s
The Gaels are working on a six-game winning streak after defeating Santa Clara (69-62) and San Francisco (56-46) on the road last week. SMC junior center Louella Tomlinson averaged 17.0 points, 19.0 rebounds, and 6.0 blocks in those two games to earn WCC Player of the Week honors. Tomlinson has three triple-doubles this season, leads the nation in blocks (6.7 bpg) and leads the WCC in both scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounding (10.9 rpg). Head coach Paul Thomas is in his fourth season at the helm of SMC. The Gaels were 11-19 last season, tied for fourth in the WCC with a 7-7 record and returned 13 letterwinners and four starters.
Pilots/Gaels Series
The Gaels held off UP 72-65 at the Chiles Center on Jan. 16 to take a 28-20 advantage in the all-time series. In Moraga last winter, Lauren Angel hit a buzzer-beating jumper to send the Pilots to a 64-63 win. Portland also won 74-62 at the Chiles Center for the season sweep.
A Brief Look Ahead
The Pilots have entered the final stretch of the season with only two home games remaining. Following its trek through California this week, UP heads back to the Rose City for WCC games against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. The Waves visit the Chiles Center on Thursday, Feb. 18, while the Lions come to town for Portland’s final regular season home game on Saturday, Feb. 20. Portland then wraps up the regular season at San Francisco on Feb. 25 and at Santa Clara on Feb. 27.
The WCC Tournament is set for March 5-8 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
A Little Something for the Effort
Sophomore forward Alexis Gannis, who shot 83.3 percent (15-for-18) from the field and averaged 18.0 points and 12.0 rebounds to help UP defeat San Francisco and Santa Clara (Jan. 28-30) at home, was named the WCC Co-Player of the Week. It’s the first player of the week honor this season for Gannis and the second of her career. She shared the award with Louella Tomlinson of Saint Mary’s.
During Portland’s 53-50 win over USF on Jan. 28, Gannis scored 20 points and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds, becoming the first Pilot to record that many boards since Rachel Warren in 2006. The native of Phoenix, Ariz., took over in the closing minutes against the Dons to score Portland’s final 11 points of the game. On Saturday, Jan. 30, Gannis missed just one shot (8-for-9) from the floor en route to 16 points during UP’s 73-65 win over Santa Clara. She grabbed seven boards to help the Pilots win their fourth straight game.
It’s the third time this season that a Pilot has taken home the WCC’s Player of the Week award as senior guard Laiken Dollente has claimed the honor twice.
Money from the Line
Laiken Dollente, who is the most accurate free throw shooter in UP program history with a career percentage of .879, has been money from the line once again and ranks No. 5 in the nation in accuracy this season. The senior guard has made 105 of 115 attempts this winter for a percentage of .913. Dollente finished second in the country in free throw shooting as a sophomore.
As a team, the Pilots rank eighth in the nation with a free throw percentage of .763.
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 1,732 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 also currently ranks first all-time at UP in free throw shooting (.879) and three-point accuracy (.409), is second in free throws (529) and three-pointers made (199), is fifth in career points per game (15.2) and is seventh in assists (372). She recently cracked the top 10 in field goals made with 502 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, who is currently nursing a strained Achilles tendon and is questionable this week, is 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 at LMU and Pepperdine (Jan. 21-23), 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 Jan. 23, 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.
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 fourth in the WCC in scoring (15.9 ppg) and is second in assists (4.8 apg). She also leads the league in free throw percentage (.913) and is second in three-point percentage (.431).
Dollente is averaging a career-best 4.0 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. 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 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.
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 eight 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 six career double-doubles and registered four straight games of double-digit rebounds earlier this season. Gannis was named the WCC Co-Player of the Week after ripping down 17 boards against USF on Jan. 28, becoming the first Pilot to have that many rebounds in a game since 2006.
She currently ranks third in the WCC in rebounding (8.2 rpg) and she is fourth on the team in scoring (10.0 ppg). Her career field goal percentage of .504 ranks fourth all-time at UP.
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 509 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 332 wins.
With 146 WCC wins, Sollars has won more league games than any other coach in the 22-year history of the conference.
On Point
It’s no secret that UP’s success this winter has coincided with the improved and consistent play of sophomore point guard ReZina TecleMariam. Z is averaging career bests of 8.9 points per game, 5.7 rebounds and 4.0 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.
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).
Glad to Assist
The Pilots are playing unselfish basketball this winter and have the stats to back it up. UP is averaging 16.3 assists per game, which ranks second in the WCC and 15th in the nation. The Pilots have three players in the top four in the WCC in assists, with Laiken Dollente ranking second (4.8 apg), ReZina TecleMariam third (4.0 apg) and Tara Cronin fourth (3.3 apg). Z ranks second in assists-turnover ratio (1.6), Cronin is third (1.5) and Dollente fourth (1.4).
A Career Year
Junior post Lauren Angel, who ranks third on the ream in scoring (10.2 ppg), has been a steady presence down low for the Pilots, scoring in double figures 13 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.
Quite the Trip
Portland’s two-game swing through soggy Southern California (Jan. 21-23) 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 94 points scored were also the most scored by the Pilots in a WCC game since registering 101 in 1996, also against the Lions.
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 65.8 points and 4.5 rebounds. 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 matched a season high with 14 points against Santa Clara on Jan. 30
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. UP outscored Sac State 55-33 during the second half to match a program DI record for points in a half
