PORTLAND PILOTS (4-19, 2-10 WCC)
WEEK 14: vs. Saint Mary's / LMU
 
Saint Mary's Gaels (14-9, 9-3 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Feb. 9, 2017
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. SMC
Overall: 20-43  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/0-10
H: 13-16  •  A: 6-24  •  N: 1-3
Last: @SMC 92, POR 76 (1/12/17)
 
Loyola Marymount Lions (11-12, 6-6 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Feb. 11, 2017
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 2:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. LMU
Overall: 31-31  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/4-6
H: 19-10  •  A: 12-18  •  N: 0-3
Last: @LMU 69, POR 54 (1/14/17)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots remain at home as they welcome the Saint Mary's Gaels and Loyola Marymount Lions to the Chiles Center for a pair of West Coast Conference match-ups.
• The Gaels visit first on Thursday night for a 7 p.m. game, and LMU follows on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
• Both games are part of the annual Play4Kay Cancer Awareness, and fans wearing pink either Thursday or Saturday will receive free admission.
 
LAST WEEK
• Senior Kaylie Van Loo matched a career high with 19 points last Thursday and the Pilots were within reach late at Santa Clara, but the Broncos held on 68-56.
• Van Loo, who handed out eight assists and hit nine shots from the floor, was responsible for 17 of Portland's 22 field goals.
• The Pilots led by seven in the first quarter, but the Broncos responded and would surge ahead by as much as 17 points.
• BYU then topped the Pilots at the Chiles Center 77-38 on Saturday.
 
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 19 points twice in the past four games.
• 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 leads the team in scoring (10.4 ppg) and she ranks second in the WCC in assists (5.2 apg), is third in minutes (36.5) and sixth in steals (1.8).
• Senior Holly Blades is fourth in the WCC in overall three-pointers (46).
• 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 7.2 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 four times and has recorded two double-doubles on the season.
• Fellow sophomore Darian Slaga is also having a stellar second season on The Bluff, averaging 10.2 points per game.
• 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.
• 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 Gaels lead the WCC in rebounding (41.9 rpg) and field goal percentage (.442) and are second in scoring (72.0 ppg).
• Junior guard Stella Beck (14.2 ppg) leads three Gaels averaging double digits in points and sophomore forward Megan McKay (7.8 rpg) is the team's top rebounder, while also scoring 10.8 points per contest.
• 11th-year head coach Paul Thomas has won more than 200 games at SMC.
• Three Lions are scoring in double figures, and senior forward transfer Jackie Johnson leads the league in blocks (3.0 bpg), while ranking second in scoring (15.9 ppg) and rebounds (9.8 rpg).
• Charity Elliott is in her fifth season as head coach at LMU.