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PORTLAND PILOTS (10-16, 5-8 WCC)
at BRIGHAM YOUNG COUGARS (18-7, 9-3 WCC)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013
Tip-off: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Provo, Utah
Arena (Capacity): Marriott Center (20,900)
TV: BYUtv
Audio: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: BYUCougars.com
 
POR vs. BYU
Overall Series: 4-10
Here: 2-5
There: 2-4
Neutral: 0-1
Last 5/10: 0-5/4-6
Last 1: @BYU 76, POR 55 (Jan. 21, 2012)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Portland Pilots enter the final stretch of the regular season with a West Coast Conference road game this week against the Brigham Young Cougars on Thursday night in Provo, Utah.
• Tip-off between the Pilots and Cougars is set for 6 p.m. (Pacific), and the game will broadcast live on national television on BYUtv.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots dropped a pair of close games at the Chiles Center last week, losing 75-71 to San Francisco on Thursday night and 49-43 to Saint Mary’s on Saturday.
• Against the Dons, the Pilots, who had rallied from nine points down in the final minutes, got a steal and a good look at a potential game-tying shot with nine seconds left, but the attempt was off the mark and San Francisco would seal the game with free throws; junior Amy Pupa finished with a career-high 21 points to lead the Pilots.
• After a three-pointer by Kari Luttinen tied the score late in the second half on Saturday, the Gaels scored six unanswered points to claim the six-point win; Luttinen finished with a game-high 13 points.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Freshman Annika Holopainen was named the WCC’s Player of the Week on Feb. 11 after dropping 26 points at Saint Mary’s (Feb. 7); Holopainen averaged 15.5 points per game that weekend, shot 57.1 percent from the floor and grabbed a career-best eight boards at Pepperdine (Feb. 9).
• Sophomore Kari Luttinen nabbed two straight WCC Player of the Week awards in December.
• Senior Amy Pupa’s 19 rebounds against Pepperdine (Jan. 31) are a career-high and she missed tying a program single-game record by one.
• Seven different players have scored in double figures this season, six players have led the team in scoring and three Pilots, Annika Holopainen, Kari Luttinen & Amy Pupa, have games with at least 20 points; Holopainen scored a team season-high of 29 points at USF (Jan. 12).
• 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.
• Portland does not have one senior on its roster.
• Junior Cassandra Brown is utilizing her redshirt year after undergoing off-season surgery.
• Junior Alexis Byrd missed six games in November due to a hamstring injury.
• Three of Portland’s five freshmen originally hail from overseas, with Ellen Nurmi and Annika Holopainen both coming to The Bluff from Finland; Sara Hernandez is from Italy.
• Head coach Jim Sollars has more WCC wins (164) than any other coach in league history and he’s 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 four wins away from historic win No. 400 at the NCAA Division I level.
 
Play 4Kay
• Last Saturday night was the Pilots annual “Play 4Kay” game, which is a global, unified effort to raise breast cancer awareness and funding.
• Fans were encouraged to join the Pilots and Gaels in wearing pink to the game, and Portland had a season-high crowd of 633.
• UP partnered with Providence Cancer Center for the Play 4Kay event and Dr. Ali Colin, a Providence oncologist, welcomed fans with some opening remarks before the game.
 
CLEANING UP THE GLASS
• Junior Amy Pupa had a historic night at the Chiles Center on Jan. 31 when she had 19 rebounds against Pepperdine, which missed tying a UP program record by one.
• Sarah Green holds the program single-game record at the NCAA DI level, which she set back in 1998 when she grabbed 20 boards.
• Lorena Legarde holds the all-time record of 24 rebounds, which she accomplished in 1982 when the Pilots played at the NAIA level.
• Pupa, a junior, is Portland’s top rebounder and ranks third in the WCC with an 8.0 per game average.
• She has recorded 10+ rebounds in a game eight times this season and she scored 12 points with 14 boards during a win at Idaho (Nov. 16) for her first career double-double.
• Against the Dons last Thursday, Pupa scored a career-best 21 points, to go along with 11 boards for her second career double-double.
 
SOPHOMORE SURGE
• Sophomore Kari Luttinen is putting up a team-best 12.5 points per game, she’s led the team in scoring 13 times and she’s scored at least 20 points three times.
• She was also named the WCC’s Player of the Week twice in December and she ranks seventh 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.
 
CAREER MILESTONES
• Head coach Jim Sollars, who was the head coach at Portland State before coming to The Bluff, is just four wins away from historic win No. 400 at the NCAA Division I level.
• Sollars, who’s in his 27th year at the helm of the Pilots, has compiled 373 wins all-time at UP and he has 396 wins total as a DI head coach.
• Sollars also has more WCC wins (164) than any other coach in league history and he’s been named conference coach of the year an unprecedented five times.
• He has 550 wins overall at Portland, Portland State and Wenatchee Valley CC combined, he’s led the Pilots to three WCC titles and one WCC Tournament title, and he’s guided Portland to four NCAA Tournaments.
 
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 has increased her scoring average to 10.0 points per game, she’s reached double figures 12 times and she has games of 26 and 29 points.
• Holopainen is putting up 11.2 points per game against conference foes, which ranks second among freshman.
• Nurmi is tops on the Pilots in three-pointers made (41), she’s scored in double figures nine times, scored a career-best 19 points against San Diego (Jan. 5) and is putting up 8.5 points per game.