PORTLAND PILOTS (5-20, 3-11 WCC)
WEEK 15: at Pacific / San Francisco
 
Pacific Tigers (9-16, 5-9 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Feb. 16, 2017
Place: Stockton, Calif.
Time: 7:00 PM
Gym: Alex G. Spanos Center
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PacificTigers.com
 
POR vs. PAC
Overall: 7-9  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/3-7
H: 3-4  •  A: 3-4  •  N: 1-1
Last: PAC 84, @POR 74 (12/29/16)
 
San Francisco Dons (13-12, 7-7 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Feb. 18, 2017
Place: San Francisco, Calif.
Time: 2:00 PM
Gym: War Memorial at the Sobrato Center
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: USFDons.com
 
POR vs. USF
Overall: 31-32  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/2-8
H: 19-11  •  A: 12-17  •  N: 0-4
Last: USF 75, POR 56 (1/19/17)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots leave the friendly confines for a two-game West Coast Conference road trip this week, which takes them to Pacific on Thursday night and San Francisco on Saturday.
• Tip-off for the Pilots and Pacific Tigers at the Alex G. Spanos Center on Thursday in Stockton, Calif., is set for 7 p.m.
• Saturday's game with the Dons at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center in San Francisco will begin at 2 p.m.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots followed a 75-65 loss to Saint Mary's at the Chiles Center last Thursday with a 71-56 home win over LMU on Saturday.
• Against the Gaels, the Pilots led early and nearly rallied late, and Julie Spencer netted a career-best 15 points.
• On Saturday, the Pilots and Lions were tied 41-41 after three quarters before the home side out-scored their visitors 30-15 in the final frame en route to the win.
• Kaylie Van Loo scored a career-high 23 points, Ashley Gray corralled a career-best 15 rebounds, and Spencer notched her third double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 boards.
• Van Loo went 10-for-13 from the free throw line against LMU, giving her 10 free throws in the same game for the second time this year.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Kaylie Van Loo is capping her career with a stellar year as the senior has set a handful of milestones this season, including scoring a career-high 23 points during a win over LMU last Saturday.
• The point guard out of Hillsboro, Ore., also just missed matching a program record when she recorded eight steals against Santa Clara on Jan. 5; Tami Standish holds the program record of nine steals, which she set in 2000.
• On Jan. 21, Van Loo went 10-for-11 at the free throw line against Gonzaga, becoming the first Pilot to hit 10 free throws in the same game since Cassandra Thompson in March of 2015; Van Loo matched the feat going 10-for-13 at the line last Saturday against LMU.
• Van Loo leads the team in scoring (11.1 ppg) and she ranks second in the WCC in assists (5.2 apg) and in minutes (36.7), and she's third in steals (1.9); against WCC teams she's averaging 13.5 points and leads the league in steals (2.5)
• Senior Holly Blades is fourth in the WCC in overall three-pointers (52); her 52 three's are tied for the eighth most in a season in program history.
• 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.
• Sophomore Julie Spencer is cleaning up the glass this season, averaging a career-high and team-best 7.1 boards per contest; her career-high 18 rebounds against Pacific (Dec. 31) were the most by a Pilot since Amy Pupa collected 19 during a game in 2013.
• Spencer scored a career-high 15 points last Thursday against Saint Mary's, and she's recorded three double-doubles on the season.
• Sophomore Darian Slaga 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.
• 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 Tigers are third in the WCC in scoring (70.9 ppg), but are last in scoring defense (70.5 ppg).
• Junior guard GeAnna Luaulu-Summers (14.5 ppg) is sixth in the league in scoring and is tops in free throw percentage (.874).
• Head coach Bradley Davis is in his second season at the helm of the program.
• San Francisco senior guard Rachel Howard is third in the WCC in scoring, putting up 16.8 points per contest.
• USF is averaging 66.8 points, while allowing 68.4 per game; they lead the WCC in free throw percentage (.766)
• Head coach Molly Goodenbour is in her first season after taking the reins of the program in September.