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vs. PEPPERDINE WAVES (12-11, 7-5 WCC)
Date: Thursday, February 16, 2012
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena (Capacity): Chiles Center (4,852)
Live Video/Audio/Stats:  PortlandPilots.com (free)
 
POR vs. PEPP
Overall Series: 19-34
Here: 12-12
There: 6-20
Neutral: 1-2
Last 5/10: 2-3/5-5
Last 1: @PEPP 66, POR 63 (January 7, 2012)
 
PORTLAND PILOTS (9-17, 2-10 WCC)
vs. SANTA CLARA BRONCOS (10-15, 3-9 WCC)
Date: Saturday, February 18, 2012
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena (Capacity): Chiles Center (4,852)
Live Video/Audio/Stats:  PortlandPilots.com (free)
 
POR vs. SCU
Overall Series: 26-32
Here: 14-10
There: 10-20
Neutral: 2-2
Last 5/10: 2-3/7-3
Last 1: @SCU 78, POR 63 (January 5, 2012)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Portland Pilots return home this week to host the Pepperdine Waves and the Santa Clara Broncos for a pair of West Coast Conference games at the Chiles Center.
• The Waves visit on Thursday night, while the Broncos are in town on Saturday. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m.
 
PLAY 4KAY
• Saturday’s game against Santa Clara is Portland’s annual “Play 4Kay” game, which is a global, unified effort to raise breast cancer awareness and funding.
• Fans are encouraged to join the Pilots and Broncos in wearing pink to the game; all fans wearing pink will receive free entry into the game, which is set to tip-off at 7 p.m.
• UP has partnered with Providence Cancer Center for the Play 4Kay promotion, and Dr. Ali Conlin, a Providence oncologist, will welcome Pilot fans to this special event.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots split their two WCC games in California last week.
• On Saturday, Portland rebounded from a Thursday loss at Saint Mary’s to defeat the LMU Lions 80-63 in Los Angeles.
• Natalie Day led five Pilots in double figures with 17 points against LMU; Day also scored a team-high 18 points against the Gaels on Thursday night in Moraga.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Natalie Day was the WCC’s November Player of the Month and she’s been named the WCC’s Player of the Week three times.
• Alexis Byrd set a facility record by making all 11 free throws during a game against Portland State at the Chiles Center on Nov. 25; Byrd missed matching a program record by one free throw.
• Portland has been to the post-season during two of the past three seasons, going to the WNIT in 2009 and the inaugural WBI in 2010.
• UP was selected to finish sixth in the WCC this year, while Day and ReZina TecleMariam were voted to the pre-season all-conference team.
• Head coach Jim Sollars has more WCC wins (157) than any other coach in the 23-year history of the league, has compiled 359 career wins at UP and has been named league coach of the year an unprecedented five times.
 
ON THE BRINK
• ReZina TecleMariam enters Thursday’s game with 999 career points and is just one-point shy of becoming the 21st player in program history to reach 1,000 points.
• TecleMariam, who has missed a handful of games this season due to injuries, ranks second on the Pilots in scoring (10.2 ppg), has four games with at least 20 points and ranks third in the WCC in assists (4.4 apg).
• Z will join fellow senior Natalie Day in the UP 1,000-point club to become the first UP teammates to reach 1,000 career points in the same season since Deanna Lansing and Wendy Toonen accomplished the feat in 1997.
• Additionally, TecleMariam currently ranks fourth all-time at UP in career three-pointers made (131), while ranking sixth in assists (408), eighth in three-point percentage (.352) and 10th in steals (196) and free throw percentage (.756).
 
 THAT’S A LOT OF POINTS
• Day, who began her collegiate career at Howard before transferring to UP as a sophomore, became Portland’s 20th 1,000-point scorer during the win over Cal State Northridge on Dec. 21.
• Day has now scored 1,204 points in 83 career games for the Pilots, and she ranks 13th all-time in scoring at UP.
• Day, who scored 209 points as a freshman with the Bison, actually become a career 1,000-point scorer earlier this season, and she’s now scored a total of 1,413 points between UP and Howard.
• Day also currently ranks seventh all-time at Portland in career scoring average (14.5 ppg), is seventh in career three-pointers made (114) and eighth in blocked shots (80).
• Day ranks second in the WCC in scoring (17.9 ppg) and is third in both rebounding (7.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (.513)
 
#1,000
• Long-time Portland head coach Jim Sollars, who is in his 26th year at the helm of the Pilots, coached in his 1,000th career game at Santa Clara on Jan. 5.
• Sollars had stops at Wenatchee CC (seven years) and Portland State (three years) before settling in at UP.
• Sollars has more WCC wins (157) than any other coach in the 24-year history of the league, has compiled 359 career wins at UP and has been named league coach of the year an unprecedented five times.
• He has 536 wins total, he’s led the Pilots to three WCC titles and one WCC Tournament title, and he’s guide Portland to four NCAA Tournaments.
 
A NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER
• Natalie Day, who averaged 20.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game during November, was named the WCC Player of the Month.
• Day, who also nabbed all three league player of the week awards handed out in November, became the first UP player to be named the conference’s player of the month since Jamie Medley earned that distinction in February 2005.
• The native of Germantown, Md., shot 54.9 percent from the field, scored at least 20 points four times, and she had a game with 19 rebounds, which are the most by a Pilot during a single game since 1998.
 
$$$$$$$$$$$
• Against Portland State on Nov. 25, sophomore Alexis Byrd set a new Chiles Center record by going a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line.
• The 11 free throws without a miss tops the previous Chiles Center record by one; former Portland stand-out Laiken Dollente went 10-for-10 at the line in 2009, while Cal Poly’s Bria Fields accomplished the feat in 2006.
 
STEPPING UP
• Cassandra Brown appears to be hitting her stride in her second season on The Bluff.
• Brown, who is third on the team in scoring with a 9.8 points per game average, has upped her scoring to 12.2 points per contest during WCC games.
• She scored a career-high 22 points at GU and has reached double figures 14 times.
• And after hitting just nine three-pointers as a freshman, CB has a team-best 39 three’s this year.
 
STEPPING IN
• Freshman Kari Luttinen has seen her playing time increase recently and she is making the most of her time.
• She recently made her first three collegiate starts, and she responded by scoring 11, 13 and 13 against Saint Mary’s, San Francisco and San Diego, respectively.
• Luttinen is averaging 7.9 points and 2.0 steals during WCC games.
 
A NEW LOOK
• For the first time in more than 30 years, the West Coast Conference has a new member as Brigham Young University formally joined the WCC last summer.
• With the change in membership, the WCC launched its new brand identity with a new logo.
 
THE BLOGGER... OR BLOGGERS
• The Pilots will combine efforts this year on a season-long blog, as members of the team and coaching staff will take turns sharing their thoughts on the season.
• Visit, and make sure to bookmark, PortlandPilots.com/WBBblog.