Complete Release (pdf) I
at USF: Live Video/Audio/Stats I
vs. GON: Live Video/Audio Stats I
Tickets
PORTLAND PILOTS (5-10, 0-2 WCC)
at SAN FRANCISCO DONS (7-8, 0-2 WCC)
Date: Saturday, January 12, 2013
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m.
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
Arena (Capacity): Memorial Gym (4,800)
Video (free)/Audio/Stats: USFDons.com
POR vs. USF
Overall Series: 30-24
Here: 19-6
There: 11-14
Neutral: 0-4
Last 5/10: 5-0/9-1
Last 1: POR 77, @USF 63 (February 23, 2012)
PORTLAND PILOTS (5-10, 0-2 WCC)
vs. GONZAGA BULLDOGS (12-4, 2-0 WCC)
Date: Monday, Jan. 14, 2013
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena (Capacity): Chiles Center (4,852)
Video/Audio (free): PilotsVideo.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. GON
Overall Series: 27-38
Here: 14-16
There: 10-20
Neutral: 3-2
Last 5/10: 0-5/1-9
Last 1: @GON 77, POR 56 (February 2, 2012)
THIS WEEK
• The Portland Pilots face their first West Coast Conference road test of 2013 as they visit the Bay Area to play the San Francisco Dons on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at War Memorial Gym.
• The Pilots then return to The Bluff to host Northwest rival Gonzaga for a somewhat rare Monday night game at the Chiles Center; tip-off between the Pilots and Bulldogs is set for 7 p.m.
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots lost two close games at the Chiles Center, falling just short to WCC foes Santa Clara and San Diego.
• Against the Broncos on Thursday night, Portland’s potential game-tying three pointer in the closing seconds bounced off the rim to allow Santa Clara to escape with a 59-58 win; Amy Pupa made a put-back at the buzzer, while absorbing some contact, to give her a career-high 17 points in the one-point loss.
• The Pilots dropped another close contest on Saturday to the Toreros; freshman Ellen Nurmi poured in a career-high 19 points, 15 after the break, and the Pilots rallied back from a double-digit first-half deficit, but San Diego prevailed 69-63.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Sophomore guard Kari Luttinen nabbed two straight WCC Player of the Week awards in December; Luttinen is Portland’s leading scorer (12.4 ppg) and she’s scored more than 20 points twice this season.
• Portland’s game against Boston College on Nov. 24 marked the 1,000th game in the history of the women’s basketball program, which dates back to 1977; the Pilots, who jumped from NAIA to NCAA DI in 1986, have an all-time record of 535-474 (.530).
• Portland does not have one senior on its roster.
• Three of Portland’s five freshmen originally hail from overseas, with Ellen Nurmi and Annika Holopainen both coming to The Bluff from Finland; Sara Ines Hernandez is from Italy.
• Portland has been to the post-season twice during the past four years, going to the WNIT in 2009 and the inaugural WBI in 2010.
• Head coach Jim Sollars has more WCC wins (159) than any other coach in the 24-year history of the league, has compiled 368 career wins at UP and has been named league coach of the year an unprecedented five times.
• Sollars, who was the head coach at Portland State before coming to The Bluff, is nine wins away from historic win No. 400 at the NCAA Division I level.
SOPHOMORE SURGE
• Kari Luttinen is following her stellar freshman season by leading the team in scoring as a sophomore.
• Luttinen, a native of Seattle, Wash., is putting up 12.4 points per game and she averaged 20.0 points per contest during UP’s four-game winning streak in December.
• She was also named the WCC’s Player of the Week twice in December and she ranks eighth in the league in scoring.
• Luttinen, who was named to the WCC’s All-Freshman Team last year, poured in a career-best 23 points during a win over Nevada on Dec. 14.
• During a win at Idaho on Nov. 16, Luttinen recorded her first career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
OWNING THE PAINT
• Forward Cassandra Thompson is also enjoying her sophomore campaign by averaging 9.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
• The native of Athol, Idaho, is fourth in the WCC in field goal percentage (.530) and she landed on the Washington Dental Thanksgiving All-Tournament Team earlier this season.
• Thompson has registered career highs in both points (18 vs. Nevada) and rebounds (14 at Idaho) this winter, and on Dec. 29 she tallied her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 boards against Portland State.
FROM ACROSS THE POND
• The Pilots have a well-established history of featuring Australians on their roster, but this season Portland features a trio of Europeans.
• Freshmen Ellen Nurmi and Annika Holopainen both came to The Bluff from Finland, while freshman Sara Ines Hernandez hails from Italy.
• Holopainen is averaging 8.3 points per game, she has reached double figures six times and she scored a career-best 17 points at Boise State on Dec. 16.
• Nurmi is tops on the Pilots in three-pointers made (23) and is third in scoring with a 8.5 per game mark, which ranks fourth among WCC freshmen
• She’s scored in double figures five times and scored a season & career-best 19 points against San Diego (Jan. 5).
• Holopainen and Nurmi were also teammates on the same club team in Helsinki, and they were teammates for Finland’s U-16 and U-18 National Teams.
CAREER MILESTONES
• Long-time head coach Jim Sollars, who’s in his 27th year at the helm of the Pilots, coached in his 1,000th career game at Santa Clara last season 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 (159) than any other coach in the 25-year history of the league, has compiled 368 career wins at UP and has been named league coach of the year an unprecedented five times.
• He has 545 wins total, he’s led the Pilots to three WCC titles and one WCC Tournament title, and he’s guided Portland to four NCAA Tournaments.
• Sollars is also just nine wins away from historic win No. 400 at the NCAA Division I level.
