Complete Release (pdf) I
Live Video/Audio I Live Stats:
vs. Santa Clara vs. San Diego I
Tickets
PORTLAND PILOTS (5-8, 0-0 WCC)
vs. SANTA CLARA BRONCOS (8-5, 0-0 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 3, 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. SCU
Overall Series: 27-33
Here: 14-11
There: 10-20
Neutral: 3-2
Last 5/10: 2-3/6-4
Last 1: POR 90, SCU 76 ( 3/1/12 @Las Vegas - WCC Tourney)
PORTLAND PILOTS (5-8, 0-0 WCC)
vs. SAN DIEGO TOREROS (8-4, 0-0 WCC)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Portland, Ore.
Arena (Capacity): Chiles Center (4,852)
Video/Audio (free): PilotsVideo.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. USD
Overall Series: 31-30
Here: 16-11
There: 10-16
Neutral: 5-3
Last 5/10: 1-4/3-7
Last 1: USD 70, POR 60 (3/2/12 @Las Vegas - WCC Tourney)
THIS WEEK
• The Portland Pilots open play in the West Coast Conference this week with a pair of games at the Chiles Center.
• First on Thursday night, the Pilots will host the Santa Clara Broncos for a 7 p.m. tilt.
• The San Diego Toreros then visit The Bluff on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game.
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots had a chance to take the lead or tie the score in the closing seconds on Saturday night, but Portland State would hold on for a 64-61 win at the Chiles Center.
• Portland led big in the first half before the Vikings rallied late in the half and into the second half; PSU led by 7 with only 83 seconds remaining before the Pilots battled back during a dramatic final minute.
• Freshman Annika Holopainen led the way with 17 points, while sophomore Cassandra Thompson registered a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Sophomore guard Kari Luttinen nabbed two straight WCC Player of the Week awards in December.
• 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 1977-78; the Pilots, who jumped from NAIA to NCAA Division I in 1986, have an all-time record of 535-472 (.531).
• 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 13.1 points per game and she averaged 20.0 points per contest during UP’s recent four-game winning streak.
• She was also named the WCC’s Player of the Week twice in December.
• Luttinen, who was named to the WCC’s All-Freshman Team last year, ranks sixth in the league in scoring and she 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 10.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
• The native of Athol, Idaho, is third in the WCC in field goal percentage (.538) 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 last Saturday 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 this on the team in scoring, averaging 8.8 points per game, which ranks fourth in the WCC among freshmen.
• Holopainen has reached double figures four times and scored a career-best 17 points against Boise State.
• Nurmi is tops on the Pilots in three-pointers made (19) and is fourth in scoring (7.8 ppg); she’s scored in double figures four time and scored a season & career-best 15 points against Nevada.
• 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.
• Hernandez has extensive playing experience in the Italian Junior National Team system.
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 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.
• 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.
