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PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots women's basketball team will play the first of its two scheduled exhibition games Wednesday night at the Chiles Center against the Seattle Pacific Falcons at 7 p.m. Portland will also face the Concordia Cavaliers in an exhibition game at home on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Pilots return six letterwinners this season, including three starters. Seniors Natalie Day and ReZina TecleMariam, who were both voted to the Preseason All-West Coast Conference Team, return to lead a young UP squad. Day led the Pilots in both scoring (14.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg) last year, while TecleMariam averaged 12.2 points per game and finished second in the WCC in assists (5.2 apg). Both have a chance to eclipse the 1,000 career point plateau this winter.
Day, TecleMariam and senior Nakeisha Brown are the only upperclassmen on the Portland roster, which features no juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen. Sophomore guard Alexis Byrd was voted to the 2010-11 WCC All-Freshman Team, while forward Amy Pupa finished the season in UP’s starting line-up. Also back is Cassandra Brown, who scored in double figures four times last season as a freshman.
Newcomers and freshmen Kari Luttinen (20.1 ppg) and Cassandra Thompson (21.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg) both averaged more than 20 points per game as seniors in high school, and Thompson was named the Idaho 3A Player of the Year. Freshman Jasmine Wooton received several accolades during a decorated high school career, including nabbing All-Area Player of the Year honors after averaging 17.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists as a senior.
Elyse Snyder has four years of eligibility remaining after utilizing her redshirt season last year, freshman Colleen Olinger comes to the The Bluff from Springfield, Pa., and sophomore Erin Boettcher will have to sit out this season after transferring to UP from New Mexico.
Head coach Jim Sollars, who has 351 career wins at Portland, enters his 26th year at the helm of the UP program. The Pilots went 16-15 last year for their third straight season with a winning record, and the team finished fourth in the WCC with a 6-8 league mark. Portland was picked to finish sixth in the WCC this season.
The Pilots are set to open the regular season at the Chiles Center against Montana State on Friday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. The WCC season begins with a visit from three-time defending conference champion Gonzaga on Dec. 29. Also scheduled to visit the Chiles Center this year is Louisville, who is ranked No. 9 in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Pilots will host the Cardinals on Saturday, Dec. 17.
