Date: Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011

Location: San Diego, Calif.

Tip: 7:00 p.m.

Arena: Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100)

Live Video/Stats: USDToreros.com

Series: POR leads 30-26

Last Meeting: POR 74, @USD 68 (Feb. 11, 2010)

Date: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011

Location: Moraga, Calif.

Tip: 2:00 p.m.

Arena: McKeon Pavilion (3,500)

Live Stats: SMCGaels.com

Live Audio: PortlandPilots.com

Series: SMC leads 29-20

Last Meeting: @SMC 67, POR 64 (Feb. 13, 2010)

 

The Portland Pilots (11-9, 2-3 WCC) conclude their first swing through the West Coast Conference with a pair of games in California this week. On Thursday night, the San Diego Toreros (11-8, 1-4 WCC) welcome the Pilots to the Jenny Craig Pavilion for a 7:00 p.m. game. Then on Saturday, Portland will be in Moraga for a 2:00 p.m. tilt against the second-place Saint Mary’s Gaels (12-8, 4-1 WCC) at McKeon Pavilion.

 

New for 2010-11 is UP’s GameCentral, a free internet portal that combines free video, audio and livestats in one location, making following the Pilots easier and more accessible than ever before. All home, non-televised men’s and women’s soccer games, volleyball matches and men’s and women’s basketball games will be available through the free service, which is also available on your iPhone, iPad, or iTouch. To access GameCentral, simply visit PortlandPilots.com.

 

The University of Portland also unveiled online Virtual Guides for the 2010-11 season. The University teamed with Pursuant Sports for production of the new guides, which includes an All-Sports Guide as well as sport-specific guides for men’s and women’s basketball and both soccers. The Virtual Guides are another resource for fans, media and recruits to learn about University of Portland Athletics, its rich history, and to hear from coaches and administrators on campus. The addition of extensive video interviews and highlights has been incorporated into the new Virtual Guides, which can be accessed through PortlandPilots.com

 

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.

 

The Pilots picked up a pair of much-needed wins last week at the Chiles Center. On Thursday night, Natalie Day registered her second career double-double, ReZina TecleMariam scored a game-high 16 points and Cassandra Brown notched a career-high 14 as Portland rolled to a 74-57 win over the San Francisco Dons. Day pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds to go along with her 10 points. The win snapped a six-game losing skid for the Pilots.

TecleMariam then hit four three-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points to help lead the Pilots to a 70-62 victory over the Santa Clara Broncos on Saturday afternoon. Tara Cronin added 17 points. The game was close throughout despite Portland holding the lead for all but two minutes.

 

Saint Mary’s outscored the Toreros 36-18 in the second half to claim a 66-44 in San Diego on Saturday. USD has won two out of its last three games, including a non-conference win (66-50) over Cal State Northridge last Wednesday. Three Toreros are averaging double figures in scoring, led by junior guard Dominique Conners at 14.9 points per game. Senior forward Emily Hatch is nearly averaging a double-double with per game marks of 9.4 points and 10.1 rebounds, which ranks second in the WCC. Head coach Cindy Fisher is in her sixth season at the helm of USD. Last season the Toreros went 15-14 overall and finished fifth in the WCC with a 7-7 league mark. Four starters returned.

 

Overall: POR leads 30-26 

Here: POR leads 16-8 (Neutral POR 5-2)     

There: USD leads 16-9 (last UP W in 2010)                

First Meeting: @POR 63, USD 49 (1983)

Last Meeting: POR 74, @USD 68 (2/11/10)  

Last 5: USD 3-2  

 

The Gaels have won four straight games and seven of their last eight. The only blemish came against LMU to open the conference slate. Most recently, Saint Mary’s defeated San Diego 66-44 in San Diego. Junior guard Jasmine Smith, who ranks second in the WCC in scoring with an average of 17.1 points per game, is one of three Gaels scoring in double figures. Senior post Louella Tomlinson continues to lead the nation in blocked shots (5.1 bpg) and is currently tied for the NCAA career triple-doubles record. Paul Thomas is in his fifth year as head coach at SMC. The Gaels went 21-10 last season and advanced to the WNIT after finishing second in the WCC with a 12-2 league mark. 12 letterwinners and four starters returned.

 

Overall: SMC leads 29-20 

Here: POR leads 13-10 (Neutral SMC 2-1)   

There: SMC leads 17-6 (last UP W in 2009) 

First Meeting: POR 71, @SMC 63 (1987)

Last Meeting: @SMC 67, POR 64 (2/13/10)

Last 5: SMC 3-2

 

Portland opens the month of February and its second trip through the WCC with a road game against the first-place Gonzaga Bulldogs on Friday, Feb. 4. Tip-off in Spokane, Wash., is set for 6:00 p.m. The Pilots then return home to host Pepperdine (Feb. 10) and Loyola Marymount (Feb. 12) at the Chiles Center.

 

The Gonzaga Bulldogs were chosen as the favorites to claim the West Coast Conference women’s basketball title for the third straight year, while the Portland Pilots were picked to finish fifth in the 2010-11 preseason coaches poll. The Pilots are coming off an 18-win season and will be looking to make their third straight trip to the post-season.

 

Junior guard ReZina TecleMariam was named the WCC’s Co-Player of the Week after helping lead the Pilots to a pair of home wins. TecleMariam, who averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game during the week, shared the honor with Gonzaga’s Courtney Vandersloot. TecleMariam also averaged 3.5 assists and 5.0 steals as the Pilots defeated San Francisco 74-57 on Thursday and Santa Clara 70-62 on Saturday. She shot 11-for-17 (.647) overall, hit six of nine (.667) on three-pointers and went 7-for-8 at the foul line.

During the win over the Dons, TecleMariam scored a game-high 16 points in just 25 minutes on 6-for-10 shooting, while also grabbing seven rebounds. On Saturday, the native of Puyallup, Wash., registered a game-high 19 points against the Broncos. TecleMariam missed just two shots (5-for-7) overall against SCU and was 4-for-5 from behind the three-point arc. She led the team in rebounds with seven, matched Thursday’s performance with five more steals and handed out four assists.

 

The Pilots opened the season at 4-0 for just the third time in program history and for the first time since 2001-02. UP also won its first six games on the road to open with a 6-0 record away from the Chiles Center for the first time in program history. Portland began its women’s basketball program in 1977 and began competing at the NCAA Division I level in 1986.

 

Portland is getting tremendous production off of its bench this season, which includes Natalie Day’s team-high 12.9 points per game. So far, 40.3 percent (566 of 1403 points) of UP’s total scoring has come off of the pine.

The Pilots’ bench has been outscored just three times this season, while the UP subs outscored Montana State’s by a ridiculous 60-6 margin on Dec. 10. Portland also posted an impressive 23-2 advantage in bench points against Hawai’i on Dec. 4 and outscored Pacific’s bench 48-16 on Dec. 19.

 

Portland’s game against Oregon on Nov. 22 was Jim Sollars’ 700th game as UP’s head coach. In 25-plus years, Coach has compiled a 346-369 (.484) overall record with the Pilots.

Last season, coach Sollars notched career win No. 500 when the Pilots defeated the Idaho Vandals 67-56 on Nov. 11 in Moscow, Idaho. In 35-plus years as a head women’s basketball coach, Sollars has compiled 523 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.

With 151 WCC wins, Sollars has won more league games than any other coach in the 23-year history of the conference.

 

During Portland’s 91-80 win over Washington State on Nov. 18, juniors Natalie Day and Nakeisha Brown became to first UP teammates to score at least 20 points in the same game since 2005. Day scored 25 against the Cougars, while Brown registered a career-high 22. During a win against UC Davis on Nov. 27, 2005, Whitney Grant (25) and Rose Sauer (20) both reached the 20-point mark.

 

Junior ReZina TecleMariam, who is the current WCC Co-Player of the Week, has played both guard positions this season and has been perhaps Portland’s most consistent player. TecleMariam, who is second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg), has two games this season with 10 assists and is second in the WCC in assists per game (5.2). Against Washington State on Nov. 18, Z registered her first career double-double with 16 points and 10 assists. She nearly posted back-to-back double-doubles in unorthodox style, putting up 16 points and a career-best seven steals against Air Force on Nov. 20. On Dec. 19, TecleMariam set another milestone with a career-high 20 points against Pacific.

TecleMariam had a break-out year last season, finishing fourth on the team in scoring (9.2 ppg) and second in both rebounding (5.6 rpg) and assists (3.8 apg). The native of Puyallup, Wash., started all 31 games and averaged 10.5 points per game during WCC contests.

 

Back for her second season with the Pilots is transfer Natalie Day, who is Portland’s top returning scorer. Day, a wing who came to The Bluff from Howard University prior to the 2009-10 season, averaged 11.2 points per game last year.

Now a junior, the native of Germantown, Md., is putting up a team-best 12.9 points per game, which ranks ninth in the WCC, and she has scored in double figures during 14 of 20 games. Day has two games of 25 points and she registered her first career double-double with 25 points and 11 boards against Oregon on Nov. 22. She’s also been active on the glass, averaging 5.7 rebounds per game, tops for the Pilots. Against USF on Jan. 20, Day ripped down a career-best 14 rebounds, to go along with 10 points.

 

After missing the majority of her first two years on The Bluff with leg injuries, junior guard Nakeisha Brown is making the most of her health this season. Brown, who has made 16 starts, is fourth on the team in scoring with an 7.7 points per game mark.

During UP’s 91-80 win over Washington State on Nov. 18, the native of Houston, Texas, careered, going for 22 points on eight of nine shooting. She hit all four of her three-pointers against the Cougars, and she’s reached double figures in scoring seven times this season. Prior to this year, Brown had played in only 19 games, averaging 2.0 points per contest.

The Record Books

The current crop of Pilots is starting to appear in the UP career record books. Senior Tara Cronin is fourth all-time in career free throw percentage (.796), ranks sixth in career three-pointers made (91) and eighth in three-point percentage (.351). Junior Alexis Gannis is fourth all-time with a career field goal percentage of .497, while junior guard ReZina TecleMariam’s career three-point percentage of .363 ranks sixth. Natalie Day’s career average of 11.9 points per game sits just out of the top 10 at No. 12.

 

Redshirt-freshman Sarah Griffin has taken on blogging duties for the women’s hoops team, and she’ll be checking in from time-to-time with her thoughts and some updates on the season. Make sure to bookmark www.portlandpilots.com/GriffinBlog and follow Sarah and the Pilots all season.