at SAINT MARY’S GAELS (16-8, 7-4 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012
Tip-off: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Moraga, Calif.
Arena (Capacity): McKeon Pavilion (5,000)
Live Video/Audio: SMCGaels.com ($)
Live Stats: SMCGaels.com
 
POR vs. SMC
Overall Series: 20-32
Here: 13-12
There: 6-18
Neutral: 1-2
Last 5/10: 0-5/3-7
Last 1: SMC 75, @POR 71 (Jan. 12, 2012)
 
PORTLAND PILOTS (8-16, 1-9 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Arena (Capacity): Gersten Pavilion (4,156)
Live Video/Audio/Stats: LMULions.com (free)
 
POR vs. LMU
Overall Series: 26-25
Here: 16-9
There: 10-14
Neutral: 0-2
Last 5/10: 2-3/3-7
Last 1: LMU 68, @POR 60 (Jan. 28, 2012)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Portland Pilots travel to California for a pair of West Coast Conference games.
• On Thursday night, the Saint Mary’s Gaels will host the Pilots at 6 p.m. at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, Calif.
• Then on Saturday, Portland will be in Los Angeles for a 2 p.m. game against the Loyola Marymount Lions at Gersten Pavilion.
 
LAST WEEK
• The No. 19 Gonzaga Bulldogs blew open a close game just before the end of the first half and cruised to 76-55 win over the Pilots last Thursday night in Spokane, Wash.
• The Pilots pulled within 28-24 with 3:17 left in the first stanza, but the Bulldogs ended end the half on a 10-0 run; UP got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
• Cassandra Brown led the Pilots with a career-best 22 points, while Natalie Day posted her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
 
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.
• The Pilots have posted three straight winning seasons.
• 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 (156) than any other coach in the 23-year history of the league, has compiled 358 career wins at UP and has been named league coach of the year an unprecedented five times.
 
#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 (156) than any other coach in the 24-year history of the league, has compiled 358 career wins at UP and has been named league coach of the year an unprecedented five times.
• He has 535 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.
 
 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 1,169 points in 81 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 1,378 points between UP and Howard.
• Day also currently ranks seventh all-time at Portland in career scoring average (14.4 ppg), is eighth in career three-pointers made (109) and 10th in blocked shots (77).
 
THAT TOO IS A LOT OF POINTS
• ReZina TecleMariam is just nine points away from reaching the 1,000 career-point milestone; with 991 career points, Z currently ranks 22nd on the all-time charts.
• TecleMariam and Day would 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, the Pilots have had a winning record during each of TecleMariam’s three years on The Bluff, and she currently ranks fourth all-time at UP in career three-pointers made (129), while ranking sixth in assists (402), seventh in three-point percentage (.354) and 10th in steals (196) and free throw percentage (.756).
• Z is second in the WCC in assists (4.5 apg), but has three missed games due to injuries.
 
$$$$$$$$$$$
• 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.
• Byrd scored a career-high 21 points against the Vikings.
 
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 12.6 points per contest during WCC games, and she’s averaging 15.1 points during Portland’s last eight games.
• She scored a career-high 22 points at GU and has reached double figures 13 times.
• And after hitting just nine three-pointers as a freshman, CB has a team-best 37 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 7.8 points and 1.8 steals during WCC games.
 
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.