at the 2011 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships
Friday-Monday • March 4-7 • Las Vegas, Nev. • Orleans Arena (7,845)
GAME 1
No. 5 Santa Clara 62, No. 8 San Francisco 58
GAME 2
No. 7 San Diego 73, No. 6 LMU 43
SATURDAY, MARCH 5
QUARTERFINAL 1
No. 4 Portland 75, No. 5 Santa Clara 64
QUARTERFINAL 2
No. 7 San Diego 77, No. 3 Pepperdine 68
SUNDAY, MARCH 6
SEMIFINAL 1 - 11:00 a.m.
No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 4 Portland
SEMIFINAL 2 - 1:30 p.m.
No. 2 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 7 San Diego
MONDAY, MARCH 7
CHAMPIONSHIP - 12:00 p.m.
Live TV/Video: ESPN3.com, WCCSports.com, ESPNU
Live Audio: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: WCCSports.com
Portland at the tourney...
All-Time: 14-18 • Best Finish: 1st, 1994 • Last Year: SCU 74, POR 61 (2nd Rd)
This Week in Pilots Basketball
The Portland Pilots (16-14, 6-8 WCC) won their quarterfinal game against Santa Clara at the 2011 West Coast Conference Championships and will next face the top-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-4, 14-0 WCC) in a semifinal tilt at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday at the Orleans Arena. WCCSports.com will provide live video for the UP-GU semifinal match-up, while live audio can be found on PortlandPilots.com.
Game(s) Coverage
BYUtv (Channel 234 on Comcast, 374 on DirecTV, 9397 on the Dish Network) will provide a live televised broadcast for the first two rounds of the 2011 WCC Championships, which includes Portland’s game on Saturday. ESPN3.com will offer a free video stream for the first two rounds, while free video can be found on WCCSports.com throughout the tournament. Livestats for the tourney can also be found on WCCSports.com, while PortlandPilots.com will offer free audio for all of UP’s games.
ESPNU is set to broadcast Monday’s championship game.
A Brief Look Back
The Pilots got a career-high 28 points from ReZina TecleMariam and another double-double from Natalie Day during a 75-64 win over the Santa Clara Broncos at the Orleans Arena on Saturday afternoon. UP led by as much as 18 points during the second half en route to the win.
17 of TecleMariam’s points came in the first half as the Pilots led 35-34 at the break. Day registers her sixth double-double in her past seven games with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Amy Pupa had a career-high 10 rebounds in her first career start, and Tara Cronin surpassed 1,000 points for her career with 12 points against the Broncos. Nakeisha Brown added 10 points.
The under-sized and short-handed Pilots out-rebounded the Broncos 43-32, while posting a 32-20 edge in points in the paint. It was the first win at the WCC tourney since 2004.
The WCC Tourney
This is the third season at the Orleans Arena for the WCC Championships and the third season under the current format. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds automatically advance to the semifinals, set for Sunday, March 6. The No. 5 through No. 8 seeds will compete in Friday’s opening round to determine who will advance to the next round of the tournament. Waiting for the winners in the quarterfinals will be the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, who will have first-round byes into Saturday’s games. The tournament final is set for Monday, March 7 at 12:00 p.m.
The Pilots are 14-18 all-time at the WCC Tournament in 19 seasons. The Pilots won their only tournament championship in 1994. The Pilots last won a WCC tournament game in 2004, when they defeated San Diego 76-64 in Santa Clara, Calif.
Last season, the Pilots also received the fourth seed to advance straight to the quarterfinals, where a streaking Santa Clara team topped UP 74-61.
Scouting Gonzaga
The Bulldogs have won 16 straight games since dropping a 70-61 decision to then-No. 14 Notre Dame on Dec. 29. GU cemented its second straight unblemished conference record with a home sweep of Saint Mary’s (106-66) and San Diego (80-58) last week. Senior guard Courtney Vandersloot (18.7 ppg) junior wing Katelan Redmon (17.4 ppg) rank first and second, respectively, in the WCC in scoring, while Vandersloot leads the nation in assists (9.9 apg). Vandersloot was recently named the WCC’s Player of the Year. Junior forward Kayla Standish (8.7 rpg) leads the team in rebounding, while also scoring 16.7 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.
Gonzaga won both meetings against Portland this season and lead the all-time series 35-27. The Bulldogs have won four straight in the series and have claimed 18 of the last 19 games.
League-High Four Pilots Earn All-WCC Honors
After a stellar second season on The Bluff, Portland junior Natalie Day was voted to the All-WCC Women’s Basketball First Team as four Pilots total received all-conference honors. Senior Tara Cronin and junior ReZina TecleMariam each earned All-WCC Honorable Mention, while Alexis Byrd landed on the all-freshman team. Portland matched league champion Gonzaga for the conference high with four players honored.
Day led Portland in both scoring (14.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg), while she increased her rebounding to 8.6 boards per game during league play. The native of Germantown, Md., averaged a double-double during the month of February with per game marks of 19.0 points and 10.7 rebounds. It’s the first conference recognition for Day.
This is the second all-conference honorable mention for Cronin, who also earned the nod as a sophomore. The guard from Spokane, Wash., is currently just seven points shy of becoming the 18th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points. She averaged 9.7 points overall on the season, while dropping 11.2 points during WCC contests.
TecleMariam, a guard from Puyallup, Wash., earns her first all-conference recognition after perhaps her best and most consistent season at UP. She was second on the team in scoring with an average of 11.6 points per game, while averaging 12.0 points during the conference schedule. TecleMariam is second in the conference in assists (5.3 apg) and she’s Portland’s best three-point shooter with 47 three’s and a percentage of .402 from behind the arc.
Byrd saved her best for the conference schedule as she averaged nearly three points more against WCC opponents. A native of Las Vegas, Nev., Byrd scored 8.7 points per game during league play, brought in 3.0 rebounds and handed out 2.4 assists.
Career Building
Senior guard Tara Cronin has put together a remarkable career on The Bluff, and now she can call herself a 1,000-point career scorer. The native of Spokane, Wash., entered Saturday’s game with 993 career points before dropping 12 on the Santa Clara Broncos. Currently with 1,005 career points, she is the 19th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Cronin (9.7 ppg) is currently third in overall scoring for the Pilots, while she’s averaging 11.2 points per contest during WCC games. She’s also averaging 3.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game and is shooing .800 from the foul line. Cronin corralled a season-high 12 rebounds at San Francisco (Feb. 17) and she’s scored in double figures during eight the past 11 games, including a 20-point outburst against San Diego last Thursday.
Double Down
Natalie Day’s career with the Pilots continues to become more and more impressive as double-doubles have become the norm for the junior wing. During a stretch in February, Day became the first UP player to record four straight double-doubles since 2000. Day, who averaged 19.0 points and 10.7 rebounds during the past month, is also just the third Pilot to register four straight double-doubles since UP began competing at the NCAA Division I level in 1986. Tami Standish was the last Pilot to accomplish the feat during the 1999-2000 season, while Amy Claboe did it twice during the 1994-95 campaign.
During the streak, which ran from Feb. 10 until Feb. 19, Day scored a season-high in points (27 at USF) and grabbed a career-high in rebounds (16 vs Pepperdine). She now has seven total double-doubles on the season and six during her past seven games.
Books Smart
Senior guard Tara Cronin was selected to the 2010-11 Capital One Academic All-District 8 Women’s Basketball First Team, which was released by CoSIDA. Cronin, who earned academic all-region third team honors as a sophomore, is now eligible to earn Academic All-America. Cronin, a native of Spokane, Wash., is a mechanical engineering major with a 3.70 GPA. She’s the first academic all-region first team selection for Portland since Whitney Grant in 2006.
A Little Something for the Effort
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.
Carpe Diem
Natalie Day, a junior from Germantown, Md., who is dropping double-doubles like there’s no tomorrow, leads the Pilots in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg) during her second season on The Bluff. During Portland’s improbable double-overtime win over Pepperdine on Feb. 10, Day scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds. On Feb. 17, Day scored 27 points during a win at San Francisco, which was just one point shy of matching her career high.
Day ranks sixth in the WCC in both scoring and rebounding. She’s reached double figures in scoring 22 times this season, has scored at least 20 points during seven games and she’s led the Pilots in points 12 times.
On Point
Junior ReZina TecleMariam, who was the WCC’s Co-Player of the Week honor in January, 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 (12.1 ppg), has three games with 10 assists and is second in the WCC in assists per game (5.2). Last Thursday, Z handed out a career-best 12 dimes against San Diego. 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 Saturday, Z had 17 first-half points against Santa Clara before finishing with a career-high 28 points on 11 of 16 shooting.
He Keeps Going... And Going... And Going...
Portland’s game against Oregon on Nov. 22 was Jim Sollars’ 700th game as UP’s head coach, while last week’s game at USF was his 800th at the NCAA Division I level. In 25-plus years, Coach has compiled a 351-374 (.483) 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 528 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 155 WCC wins, Sollars has won more league games than any other coach in the 23-year history of the conference.
Up, Up Here We Go
Freshman point guard Alexis Byrd has been playing like a veteran during the second half of the season as her minutes increase seemingly every week. The native of Las Vegas, Nev., who is averaging 5.9 points overall, was just shy of averaging in double figures during WCC games with a per game mark of 9.7 points. She’s reached double figures five times this season, all coming during league games, and she notched a career-high 19 points at Saint Mary’s on Jan. 29. She also has season bests of six assists (at LMU on Jan. 13), seven rebounds (at USF on Feb. 17) and five steals (vs. Idaho on Dec. 30).
The Record Books
Senior Tara Cronin currently ranks 19th all-time in scoring at Portland with 1,005 career points. She is also fourth all-time in career free throw percentage (.790), ranks sixth in career three-pointers made (111), eighth in three-point percentage (.349) and tenth in assists (319).
Junior Alexis Gannis is fourth all-time with a career field goal percentage of .497, while junior ReZina TecleMariam’s career three-point percentage of .363 ranks sixth and her 93 three-pointers are good for seventh. Natalie Day is seventh in career free throw percentage (.766), while her career average of 13.0 points per game is tenth all-time.
For Openers
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.
20/20
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.
