Box Score
MORAGA, Calif. --- Portland overcame a 19-point first-half deficit and led Saint Mary’s by six in the second half, but the Gaels would prevail 67-64 in a West Coast Conference women’s basketball game at McKeon Pavilion on Saturday afternoon. Portland senior Laiken Dollente had a chance to tie the score with a 27-foot three-pointer in the closing seconds, but the attempt was off the mark and went out of bounds to Saint Mary’s.
Then with 0.9 seconds left, the Gaels were able to inbound it and let the clock run out.
Portland splits its two-game California trip and is now 16-9 on the season and an even 5-5 in the WCC. Second-place Saint Mary’s improves to 18-8 overall and to 9-2 in the conference.
It looked bleak early on as Portland opened ice cold from the field and Saint Mary’s built a 30-11 first-half lead. But the Pilots finally came to life with 6:22 left in the first half to embark on a 19-6 run to pull within six. Sophomore ReZina TecleMariam had seven points during the spurt and Dollente buried two three-pointers, with the second making it a 36-30 game at the half.
The run would continue into the second half and eventually grow to 30-9 and allow UP to claim its first lead at 41-39 with 16:45 left to play. A three from Portland senior Tara Cronin capped the run and gave the Pilots the two point lead.
UP’s lead would grow to four before Saint Mary’s answered back and take a three-point lead with 13:13 left to play. That’s when Dollente and Cronin hit back-to-back three-pointers to help tie the game at 53-53. The score would remain the same for the next two minutes until TecleMariam hit a tough shot on a feed from sophomore Alexis Gannis to give the lead back to the Pilots.
Dollente followed with yet another three-pointer and junior Jessica Clemens would hit a free throw to give UP its biggest lead at 59-53 with 7:22 remaining. The two teams would then exchange field goals and free throws with Portland still leading 64-63 with 2:17 on the clock.
Portland would go field goal-less the rest of the way as Louella Tomlinson stepped up for the Gaels. She hit the go-ahead lay-up with 1:43 left and would add some insurance with a jumper with just 17 ticks on the game clock. But it was her missed free throw that allowed Dollente’s game-tying attempt.
UP’s three guards, Dollente, Cronin and TecleMariam, combined to score 54 of Portland’s 64 points. Dollente hit five three-pointers to score a game-high 27 points. TecleMariam finished with 15 points, while Cronin had 12.
Gannis was Portland’s top rebounder with 12 boards.
Tomlinson registered the double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds, as SMC outrebounded Portland 54-39. Jontelle Smith scored 12 points and Jasmine Smith had 10.
The Pilots shot 33.8 percent (23-for-68) from the field, hit 10 of 27 three’s and went 8-for-11 at the line. SMC shot 36.2 percent (25-for-69), was five of 19 from downtown and 12-for-16 from the charity stripe.
The Pilots next return to Portland for their final two regular season home games. The Pepperdine Waves visit the Chiles Center for a 7:00 p.m. WCC game on Thursday, before the LMU Lions come to town for a 2:00 p.m. tilt on Saturday.
Saturday will mark the final regular season appearance at the Chiles Center for Dollente, Portland’s lone senior on the roster. The Pilots will honor the stand-out guard, who has enjoyed an illustrious career on The Bluff, with a pre-game ceremony.
