PORTLAND, Ore. --- For the fourth straight game Portland had a game decided in the closing seconds and for the fourth straight time the Pilots came up just short as this time it was the Saint Mary's Gaels who escaped the Chiles Center with a 62-58 win on Saturday night. The Pilots have lost the last four games by a combined 14 points.
 
The Gaels (19-8, 12-4 WCC) led by eight at the break and continually tried to pull away in the second half, but the Pilots (4-23, 2-14 WCC) seemingly had an answer every time. It did look bleak with about seven minutes left and the Pilots trailing 50-42.
 
But that's when Cassandra Thompson sparked a run with consecutive buckets. Jasmine Wooton then made a lay-up before Sara Ines Hernandez buried a three from the corner to hand the Pilots a 51-50 lead.
 
The Hernandez three capped a 9-0 Portland run and it gave the Pilots their first lead since early in the first half. The Gaels momentarily recovered to re-claim the lead, but Hernandez came through again with another clutch three from the same spot, this time tying the game at 54-54 with 3:14 remaining.
 
The Gaels again recovered and back-to-back lay-ups made it a 58-54 game. Kari Luttinen then cut the deficit in half and the Pilots got a huge defensive stop at the other end to get the ball back with about 90 seconds remaining.
 
Portland then had a couple of opportunities to either tie or take the lead, but Kaylie Van Loo was whistled for an offensive foul as the shot clock quickly approached zero.
 
Now with 35 seconds left and still down two, the Pilots made another clutch defensive stop, but the Gaels corralled a big-time offensive rebound. Two free throws pushed the lead to four, but again Portland refused to falter, this time getting a lay-up by Cassandra Brown to pull the Pilots within two points and 14 seconds showing on the clock.
 
But the Gaels made enough free throws down the stretch, or grabbed crippling offensive boards on misses to seal the win.
 
Brown led the Pilots with 21 points, but most of the senior's damage came in the first half as she was battling foul trouble throughout the second half. She also recorded a career-best four blocks. Luttinen added 11 points.
 
SMC's Lauren Nicholson finished with a game-high 22 points.
 
The Pilots held the Gaels to 37.9 percent shooting on the night, while countering with 41.2 percent shooting. Portland connected on eight three-pointers to SMC's four, but the Gaels made 14 free throws to the Pilots' eight.
 
The Pilots next conclude the regular season on the road, first traveling to Provo, Utah, to face BYU on Thursday night. Tip-off at the Marriott Center is set for 6 p.m. (Pacific).
 
Saturday night marked the final home game for Portland's five seniors, and the Pilots honored Brown, Luttinen, Colleen Olinger, Thompson and Wooton with a pre-game ceremony.