PORTLAND PILOTS (3-4, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 5: vs. Warner Pacific / Boise State
 
Warner Pacific Knights (3-7, 1-1 CCC)
Day: Friday
Date: Dec. 8, 2017
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Live Video: TheWtv.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. WP
Overall: 8-2  •  Last 5/10: 4-1/8-2
H: 5-1  •  A: 2-0  •  U: 1-1
Last: @POR 103, WP 19 (11/30/90)
 
Boise State Broncos (3-3, 0-0 MWC)
Day: Sunday
Date: Dec. 10, 2017
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 2:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Live Video: TheWtv.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. BSU
Overall: 12-8  •  Last 5/10: 2-3/6-4
H: 8-2  •  A: 4-6  •  N: 0-0
Last: @BSU 74, POR 60 (12/18/16)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots play of pair of home games this weekend at the Chiles Center, first hosting the Warner Pacific Knights on Friday night at 7 p.m.
• The Boise State Broncos visit on Sunday for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
• This weekend is UP's annual Holiday Toy Drive, and any fan that brings a new, unwrapped toy to either game will receive two tickets for the price of one.
• Sunday is also Portland's annual mother-daughter clinic, which will take place following the game vs. the Broncos and is open to any mother/ guardian and girls in the eighth grade or younger; to sign up in advance for the free clinic, please contact Jon Brooks at brooksj@up.edu or 503-943-7431.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots remained within reach of the Washington Huskies for much of the afternoon on Sunday in Seattle, but the Huskies pulled away in the third quarter en route to a 93-67 win.
• Darian Slaga led the way offensively for the Pilots with a game-high 18 points, while Kate Andersen added 10.
• Portland led early and was still within six points of the Huskies during the opening minutes of the second half.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland opened the campaign at 3-0, which was start to a season since the 2010-11 squad opened 4-0.
• Kate Andersen is tops in the West Coast Conference in free throw percentage (.950) and Lisa-Marie Kaempf is tied fifth (.842), Maddie Muhlheim is sixth in three-pointers made (12), Julie Spencer ranks seventh in offensive rebounds (3.1) and is eighth in overall rebounding (7.4 rpg), and Andersen is No. 9 in steals (1.9 spg).
• The Pilots are a young squad with seven newcomers, which features six true freshmen and a junior transfer.
• A newcomer has led the Pilots in scoring twice this year, with junior transfer Lisa-Marie Kaempf dropping 19 points on Willamette and freshman Maddie Muhlheim scoring 17 against Utah Valley.
• Portland also returned seven letterwinners from a year ago, including three seniors.
• Portland's top returning scorer and rebounder is junior forward Julie Spencer, who is coming off a break-out year; she averaged career bests of 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest as a sophomore, she claimed four double-doubles, and she corralled 18 rebounds during a game, which was the most boards by a Pilot since 2013.
• Spencer has two double-doubles this season, with 15 points and 10 boards against Hawai'i and 14 points and 10 rebounds vs. Portland State; she scored a career-high 24 points on 12 of 15 shooting at Cal State Fullerton.
• Redshirt-senior Rachelle Owens, who only appeared in one game last year before an injury cut her season short, is back, and against Utah Valley she collected career highs of 13 points and seven assists.
• Junior guard Darian Slaga has missed most of the season with an injury, but she returned on Nov. 28 to hit three three-pointers and score 15 points off the bench against Portland State; Slaga was third on the team in scoring last season, and twice she scored more than 20 points which included a 24-point outburst against the No. 24 Washington Huskies.
• The Pilots were selected to finish 10th in the WCC, finishing just two points behind ninth-place Pepperdine in the preseason coaches' poll.
• 2017-18 marks the fourth year for head coach Cheryl Sorenson, who was previously an assistant for the Pilots; she assumed the reins of the program after long-time head
coach Jim Sollars retired following the 2013-14 season; Sorenson is approaching her 100th game as head coach.
• Sorenson, who starred collegiately at the University of Washington, was a high school
All-American at nearby Clackamas High School.
• Back on the Portland bench are fourth-year assistant coaches Steve Lowe and Brianna
Chambers, while assistant coach Drew Muscatell returns for his third year on the Portland bench.
• Portland has been to four NCAA Tournaments (1994-97), two WNIT's (1998 & 2009) and one WBI (2010).
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The Warner Pacific Knights are an NAIA school from the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
• The Knights are led offensively by sophomore Darbi Pink, who is averaging 10.8 points per contest, and Warner Pacific is putting up 68.0 points as a team.
• Matt Gregg is in his 10th year as head coach of the Knights.
• The Boise State Broncos are coming off 61-57 road win at Eastern Washington and are scheduled to host UW Thursday night before coming to Portland.
• The Broncos are averaging 70.3 points per game, while allowing 61.0, and have four players scoring in double figures.
• Marta Hermida is the squad's leading scorer (12.3 ppg), and Marijke Vanderschaaf is the top rebounder (6.7 rpg).
• 13th-year head coach Gordy Presnell has led the Broncos to three NCAA Tournaments (2007, 2015, 2017) and he's the program's all-time winningest coach with 223 career wins.