Date: Friday, Feb. 4, 2011

Location: Spokane, Wash.

Tip: 6:00 p.m.

Arena: McCarthey Center (6,000)

Live Stats: GoZags.com

Live Audio: PortlandPilots.com

Series: GU leads 34-27

Last Meeting: GU 81, @POR 55 (Jan. 8, 2011)           

 

The Portland Pilots (12-10, 3-4 WCC) begin their second swing through the West Coast Conference with a game against the first-place Gonzaga Bulldogs (19-4, 7-0 WCC) on Friday night in Spokane, Wash. Tip-off between the two Northwest rivals is set for 6:00 p.m. at the McCarthey Center.

 

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 went on the road last week and split a pair of conference games in California. In San Diego on Thursday night, junior Natalie Day scored 24 points and the Pilots used a late run to defeat the San Diego Toreros 65-60 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. San Diego led 50-44 with 11:32 to play, but Portland closed the game on a 21-10 run en route to the win. It’s the fourth time this season to score at least 20 points for Day, who went 10-for-18 from the field. Senior Tara Cronin, who hit all four of her three-pointers in the first half, finished with 14 points, while junior ReZina TecleMariam added 11 points and six assists.

In Moraga on Saturday afternoon, the Saint Mary’s Gaels overcame a late second-half deficit and career games from TecleMariam and freshman Alexis Byrd to defeat the Pilots 78-76 in a thrilling game at McKeon Pavilion. The Pilots led for most of the game before SMC’s Jasmine Smith won it on free throws during the closing seconds. TecleMariam scored a career-high 23 points on eight of 13 shooting, while Byrd registered a career-high 19 points on six of 11 shooting. Cronin also reached double figures with 17 points.

 

The Bulldogs have won nine straight games since dropping a 70-61 decision to then-No. 14 Notre Dame on Dec. 29. Most recently, GU swept Saint Mary’s (106-77) and San Diego (70-49) on the road last week. Junior wing Katelan Redmon (17.9 ppg) and senior guard Courtney Vandersloot (17.7 ppg) rank first and second, respectively, in the WCC in scoring, while Vandersloot leads the nation in assists (9.6 apg). Redmon is the reigning WCC Player of the Week after averaging 22.0 points last week. Junior forward Kayla Standish (8.3 rpg) leads the team in rebounding, while also scoring 15.8 points per contest. Former UP assistant coach Kelly Graves is in his 11th year as head coach at GU. 10 letterwinners and two starters returned from last year’s NCAA Sweet 16 team, which finished 25-5 overall and 14-0 in the WCC.

 

Portland finishes the regular season slate by playing four of its final six games at the friendly confines of the Chiles Center during the month of February. The Pilots follow their trip to Spokane with home games against Pepperdine on Thursday. Feb. 10 and against LMU on Saturday, Feb. 12. UP then travels to San Francisco (Feb. 17) and Santa Clara (Feb. 19) before ending the regular season at home against San Diego (Feb. 24) and Saint Mary’s (Feb. 26).

The WCC Championships return to Las Vegas, Nev., for the third straight year and are scheduled for March 4-7 at the Orleans Arena.

 

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 (Jan. 24) 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 Jan. 20 and Santa Clara 70-62 on Jan. 22 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.

 

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 recently nabbed the WCC’s Co-Player of the Week honor, 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 (11.9 ppg), has two games 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. Last week, TecleMariam set another milestone with a career-high 23 points against Saint Mary’s.

TecleMariam has stepped up her play during the conference slate, averaging a team-best 13.3 points per contest. During the past four games, the native of Puyallup, Wash., is averaging 17.3 points per game, while shooting a ridiculous 60.0 percent (21-for-35) from the field to help the Pilots go 3-1 during that span.

 

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 347-370 (.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 524 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 152 WCC wins, Sollars has won more league games than any other coach in the 23-year history of the conference.

 

Natalie Day, a junior from Germantown, Md., is proving to be quite the scoring machine for the Pilots, putting up a team-best 13.2 points per game. Day ranks eighth in the WCC in scoring and she’s scored in double figures during 15 of 22 games. She has two games of 25 points, one game with 24 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 5.6 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.

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.

 

As has usually been the case during her career on The Bluff, senior guard Tara Cronin has stepped up her play during the WCC portion of the schedule. Cronin, who is third on the team in scoring at 8.9 points per game, is putting up 10.3 points against conference foes. She has reached double figures in three straight games, sandwiching a 14-point performance at San Diego with 17 points against both San Francisco and Saint Mary’s.

This week Cronin returns to the site of perhaps her best collegiate game as Portland plays Gonzaga at the McCarthey Center in Spokane, Wash., on Friday night. Back in 2009, Cronin was unconscious en route to career bests of 22 points and 13 rebounds to help lead the Pilots to a 70-67 upset of the Bulldogs.

 

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 18 starts, is fourth on the team in scoring with an 7.3 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 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 (.793), ranks sixth in career three-pointers made (98) and seventh in three-point percentage (.360). 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 .365 ranks fifth and he 80 three-pointers are tied for ninth. Natalie Day’s career average of 12.1 points per game sits just out of the top 10 at No. 11, while Cronin also sits at No. 11 in career assists with 291.

 

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.