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PORTLAND PILOTS (3-21, 1-12 WCC)
at GONZAGA BULLDOGS (16-9, 8-5 WCC)
Date: Saturday, February 13, 2016
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Spokane, Wash.
Arena (Capacity): McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000)
Live Video: TheW.tv
Live Stats: GoZags.com
 
POR vs. GON
Overall Series: 27-45
Here: 14-20
There: 10-23
Neutral: 3-2
Last 5/Last 10: 0-5/0-10
Last 1: GON 71, @POR 63 (Jan. 9, 2016)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots begin a string of three straight road games when they travel to Spokane, Wash., this weekend to face the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
• Tip-off for the West Coast Conference contest at the McCarthey Athletic Center is set for 2 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots split their two WCC home games last week, defeating the Pepperdine Waves 81-79 on Thursday night before succumbing to the LMU Lions 77-62 on Saturday.
• Portland led the Waves for most of the night before Pepperdine tied the game in the final minute; Kaylie Van Loo was then fouled with 20 seconds remaining, and the junior guard hit both of her free throws to put the Pilots on top.
• The Waves then had three chances to tie or take the lead in the closing seconds, but the Portland defense held strong to seal the win.
• Five Pilots scored in double digits against the Waves, led by Van Loo and Hannah Mattson with 16 points each; Mattson shot 6-for-7 overall and hit all four of her three-pointers.
• Against the Lions, the Pilots were within six points late, but LMU ended the game on a 9-0 run; sophomore Ashley Gray led the way with 14 points and seven rebounds.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Freshman wing Ellie Woerner is off to an impressive start to her collegiate career; she leads the team and ranks 9th in the WCC in scoring with a 12.7 points per game mark, which is second among all freshmen in the conference.
• Woerner has scored in double digits in 12 of her last 13 games and she's reached double figures during 19 of her 23 career games, which includes a career-high 19 points against both Willamette and San Francisco.
• She grabbed a career-best nine boards at Pepperdine (Dec. 23), matching a season-high for the Pilots.
• Woerner is one of six newcomers for the Pilots, to go along with six returners.
• Junior transfer guards Holly Blades and Rachelle Owens both came to The Bluff from the College of Southern Idaho, while forward Corissa Turley previously attended College of the Sequoias.
• Blades is tops on the team and sixth in the conference with 43 three-pointers, while Turley leads the team in free throw percentage (.808), despite missing a chunk of the season with an injury.
• Junior guard Kaylie Van Loo is third in the WCC in assists (4.0) and is fifth in assists/turnover ratio (1.5).
• Sophomore forward Ashley Gray is shooting 53.1 percent from the field and is tops on the team in rebounds with a 4.2 per game mark; she has scored a career-high 16 points twice.
• During the summer, sophomore center Sara Zaragoza helped Spain claim the gold medal the 2015 U-20 FIFA European Championships.
• Cheryl Sorenson is in her second season as head coach of the Pilots after assuming the role last year after long-time coach Jim Sollars' retirement; she spent her first three years on The Bluff as an assistant coach.
• The Pilots lost three 1,000-point scorers to graduation; Cassandra Brown (1,396 points), Kari Luttinen (1,366 points) and Jasmine Wooton (1,130 points) all reached that historic milestone last year, becoming the first Pilot trio to do so in the same season.
• Brown captivated the nation last year when she won the 2015 State Farm Three-Point Championship (men's and women's) on ESPN, which was part of Final Four Weekend in Indianapolis, Ind.
• Portland has been to four NCAA Tournaments (1994-97), two WNIT's (1998 & 2009) and one WBI (2010).
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The Bulldogs have split their last four games and sit in fifth place in the WCC.
• The Bulldogs feature a balanced scoring attack, with freshman forward Jill Barta (12.2 ppg) leading two players scoring in double figures; senior post Shelby Cheslek is nearly averaging a double-double (9.1 ppg; 8.5 rpg).
• Former GU assistant Lisa Fortier is in her second year as head coach after leading the Bulldogs to the NCAA Sweet 16 last season.
• The first time these two teams met, the Pilots open a large lead early and entered halftime ahead 39-35; but the Zags rallied for a 71-63 win at the Chiles Center.