PORTLAND PILOTS (6-21, 4-12 WCC)
WEEK 16: at BYU / vs. San Diego
 
Brigham Young Cougars (17-10, 11-5 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Feb. 23, 2017
Place: Provo, Utah
Time: 6:00 PM (Pacific)
Gym: Marriott Center
TV: BYUtv
Online Video: TheW.tv
Stats: BYUCougars.com
 
POR vs. BYU
Overall: 4-19  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/0-10
H: 2-10  •  A: 2-8  •  N: 0-1
Last: BYU 77, @POR 38 (2/4/17)
 
San Diego Toreros (12-14, 6-10 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Feb. 25, 2017
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 2:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. USD
Overall: 32-38  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/1-9
H: 17-14  •  A: 10-21  •  N: 5-3
Last: @USD 57, POR 40 (1/28/17)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots conclude the regular season by traveling to Provo, Utah, on Thursday to face the BYU Cougars before returning home to host the San Diego Toreros on Saturday.
• Tip-off at the Marriott Center for the Pilots and Cougars is set for 6 p.m. (Pacific), while Saturday's home finale with the Toreros will start at 2 p.m. at the Chiles Center.
• Saturday is Senior Day, and the Pilots will honor Holly Blades, Hannah Mattson, Corissa Turley and Kaylie Van Loo with a pre-game ceremony.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots won an OT thriller last Thursday at Pacific 78-71 in Stockton, Calif.
• After the Tigers and Pilots exchanged multiple go-ahead buckets during the final minute, Pacific's GeAnna Luaulu-Summers hit three free throws with half a second remaining to send the game to overtime.
• The Pilots dominated the extra frame to pick up the road win.
• Kaylie Van Loo poured in a career-best 26 points, while Hannah Mattson matched a career-high with 16 points; Mattson also pulled down a career-best seven boards as four different Pilots finished with seven rebounds.
• Van Loo reached the 20-point plateau for the third straight game on Saturday, but the Pilots fell at San Francisco 83-71; Jojuan Carrington scored a career-high 14 points.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Kaylie Van Loo has scored at least 20 points in three straight games, averaging 23.3 points during that span; last Thursday she poured in a career-best 26 points during a win at Pacific.
• 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 has three games this season with 10 free throws.
• Van Loo leads the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and she ranks second in the WCC in assists (5.2 apg) and in minutes (37.0), and she's third in steals (2.0); against WCC teams she's averaging 14.7 points, which ranks sixth, and leads the league in steals (2.6).
• She's dished a career-best nine assists three times this year.
• Senior Holly Blades is fourth in the WCC in overall three-pointers with 55, which ranks seventh on UP's all-time single season chart.
• 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 7.3 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 against Saint Mary's (Feb. 9), 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
• BYU is in second place in the WCC and are holding opponents to a league-low .361 shooting percentage.
• Junior guard Cassie Broadhead leads the WCC in scoring (18.4), while senior forward Kalani Purcell is averaging a double-double (12.0 ppg, 10.4 rpg).
• Jeff Judkins is in his 16th year as head coach and has led the Cougars to the NCAA Tourney eight times.
• San Diego sits two games in front of the Pilots in the WCC standings.
• Junior guard Aubrey Ward-El (10.4 ppg) is the team's active leading scorer 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.