PORTLAND PILOTS (3-16, 1-7 WCC)
WEEK 12: vs. Pepperdine / at San Diego
 
Pepperdine Waves (5-14, 3-5 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Jan. 26, 2017
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
TV: CSN-NW (Ch. 737)
Online Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. PEPP
Overall: 27-36  •  Last 5/10: 3-2/8-2
H: 17-12  •  A: 9-22  •  N: 1-2
Last: POR 71, @PEPP 61 (12/31/16)
 
San Diego Toreros (9-9, 3-5 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Jan. 28, 2017
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Time: 2:00 PM
Gym: Jenny Graig Pavilion
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: USDToreros.com
 
POR vs. USD
Overall: 32-37  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/1-9
H: 17-14  •  A: 10-20  •  N: 5-3
Last: USD 77, @POR 67 (2/27/16)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots have a home-and-away week, first hosting Pepperdine at the Chiles Center on Thursday night before traveling to San Diego, Calif., to face San Diego on Saturday.
• Tip-off for the Pilots and Waves Thursday night is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be shown live on Comcast SportsNet Northwest (Ch. 737 on Comcast).
• Saturday's game against the Toreros will begin at 2 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots dropped a pair of West Coast Conference games at the Chiles Center, succumbing to San Francisco on Thursday night and Gonzaga on Saturday.
• Julie Spencer led three Pilots in double figures with 12 points against USF, but the Dons shot 52 percent en route to a 75-56 win.
• Holly Blades and Kaylie Van Loo each scored 10 points in the loss, with all of Van Loo's points coming in the second half.
• On Saturday, Van Loo shot 10 of 11 from the free throw line to score a season-high 16 points, but Gonzaga pulled away for an 85-50 win.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Kaylie Van Loo has accomplished a handful of milestones this season, including going 10-for-11 at the free throw line against Gonzaga (Jan. 21); the senior guard becomes the first Pilot to hit 10 free throws in the same game since Cassandra Thompson in March of 2015.
• On Jan. 5 Van Loo just missed matching a program record when she recorded eight steals against Santa Clara; Tami Standish holds the program record of nine steals, which she set in 2000.
• A native of nearby Hillsboro, Ore., Van Loo currently leads the WCC and ranks 34th nationally in assists (5.8 apg); during WCC play, she's handing out a league-best 6.1 dimes per contest, while averaging a team-best 11.5 points.
• Senior Holly Blades is second in the WCC in overall three-pointers (41), and she's buried a league-high 20 three's against conference opponents; she's averaging 10.5 points per game in eight WCC games, which is nearly two points more than her overall season average of 8.7 points per contest
• Sophomore Julie Spencer is cleaning up the glass this season, averaging a career-high and team-best 7.4 boards per contest; her career-high 18 rebounds against Pacific (Dec. 31) are the most by a Pilot since Amy Pupa collected 19 during a game in 2013.
• Spencer has scored a career-high 14 points three times and has recorded two double-doubles on the season.
• Fellow sophomore Darian Slaga is also having a stellar second season on The Bluff, leading the team in scoring with a 11.2 points per game mark.
• Slaga, who has come off the bench most game this season, scored a career-high 24 points against UW on Nov. 27; that's the most points scored by a Pilot since Cassandra Brown scored 26 in February of 2015.
• Holly Blades matched a program record when she buried seven three-pointers, out of just 10 attempts, during Portland's win over UAA at the Great Alaska Shootout on Nov. 27; Jennifer Wassom is the only other Pilot to notch seven three's in 2005.
• Blades was named to the Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team after the Pilots advanced to the title game, with the help of her career-high 21 points against UAA.
• Kaylie Van Loo also throws the javelin for the UP track & field team, and she was the first thrower in Portland women's track & field program history to compete at NCAA Nationals last spring; she earned All-American Honorable Mention with an 18th-place finish at the 2016 NCAA's.
• Van Loo just missed qualifying for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials by one spot.
• Third-year head coach Cheryl Sorenson, who was previously an assistant for the Pilots, assumed the reins of the program after long-time head coach Jim Sollars retired following the 2013-14 season.
• Sorenson starred collegiately at Washington and was a high school All-American at nearby Clackamas High School.
• Portland has been to four NCAA Tournaments (1994-97), two WNIT's (1998 & 2009) and one WBI (2010).
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The Pilots defeated the Waves 71-61 on Dec. 31 in Malibu, Calif.
• The Waves have WCC wins over Gonzaga, San Diego and BYU, and are scoring 59.3 points per game, while allowing 66.9.
• Sophomore forward Yasmine Robinson-Bacote is fifth in the WCC in scoring (14.6 ppg) and third in rebounding (8.5 rpg).
• Ryan Weisenberg is in his fourth season as head coach at Pepperdine.
• USD has defeated league foes Saint Mary's, Santa Clara and LMU, and is scoring 68.2 points, while allowing 65.4.
• Senior guard Katherine Hamilton (10.4 ppg) and junior guard Aubrey Ward-El (10.2 ppg) are the team's active leading scorers after Maya Hood (18.1 ppg) went down with an injury earlier this season.
• Cindy Fisher is in her 12th season as head coach and she's led USD to an unprecedented five straight 20-win seasons.