PORTLAND PILOTS (0-0, 0-0 WCC)
WEEK 1: at Utah Valley / Weber State
 
Utah Valley Wolverines (1-0, 0-0 WAC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 10, 2018
Place: Orem, Utah
Time: 2:00 PM (Pacific)
Gym: Lockhart Arena
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. UVU
Overall: 5-2  •  Last 5/10: 4-1/5-2
H: 5-0  •  A: 0-2  •  N: 0-0
Last: @POR 71, UVU 64 (ot) (11/14/17)
 
Weber State Wildcats (0-0, 0-0 Big Sky)
Day: Monday
Date: Nov. 12, 2018
Place: Ogden, Utah
Time: 4:00 PM (Pacific)
Gym: Dee Events Center
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. WSU
Overall: 2-9  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/1-9
H: 2-4  •  A: 0-5  •  N: 0-0
Last: WSU 91, @POR 71 (12/17/17)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots open the 2018-19 season with a trip to Utah, where they'll play the Utah Valley Wolverines on Saturday and the Weber State Wildcats on Monday.
• Tip-off with the Wolverines on Saturday at Lockhart Arena is set for 2 p.m. (Pacific), and Monday's tip-off with the Wildcats at the Dee Events Center is scheduled for 4 p.m. (Pacific).
• Links for a live stream and live stats for both contests can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots played just one exhibition game, which was an 88-45 win over Puget Sound last Saturday at the Chiles Center.
• Senior Darian Slaga led six Pilots in double figures with 16 points, and junior Kate Andersen collected a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
• The Pilots shot 49.2 percent from the floor, combined to hit nine three-pointers, with Jayce Gorzeman going three-for-three from deep, and they held the Loggers to just 25 percent shooting.
• Portland also outrebounded Puget Sound 50-28.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland has won two of their last three season-openers, including a 76-47 win over Hawai'i last season.
• The Pilots return their five top scorers from a year ago as they bring back 78 percent of their scoring from the 2017-18 season.
• 10 letterwinners and redshirt-freshman Erika Kankfelt are back for the Pilots, who feature an experienced roster
• Leading the returners is senior guard Darian Slaga, who was tops on the team last year in scoring with a 12.6 points per game mark.
• Slaga earned All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention as a junior, and she poured in a career-best 27 points against Saint Francis, which was the most points scored by a Pilot since 2015.
• Slaga enters the year third all-time at UP with a career free throw percentage of .814; last season she missed just nine free throws out of 61 attempts (.852).
• Also back is senior forward Julie Spencer, who joined Slaga to earn All-WCC Honorable Mention in 2017-18.
• Spencer was Portland's leading rebounder at 6.9 boards per game last season, and she collected four double-doubles as a junior.
• Spencer begins this year No. 7 all-time at Portland with 361 defensive rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Maddie Muhlheim set a program record for three-pointers by a freshman when she knocked down 48 from behind the arc.
• New to The Bluff are four freshmen as Elena Alaix (Madrid, Spain), Haylee Andrews (Townsville, Australia), Liana Kaitu'u (Salt Lake City, Utah), and Shasta Parker (Novato, Calif.) are in their first year with the Pilots.
• Last year the Pilots out-rebounded their opponents by an average of 38.0 to 35.8 boards per game; it was the first time Portland recorded more rebounds than the opposition since the 2009-10 season.
• The Pilots were selected to finish 10th in the WCC in the preseason coaches' poll, while Gonzaga was selected as the league favorite.
• 2018-19 marks the fifth 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, who starred collegiately at the University of Washington, was a high school All-American at nearby Clackamas High School.
• Back on the Portland bench is fifth-year assistant coach Steve Lowe.
• Skyler Young and Tiffany Gibson, who spent the past three years as Portland's director of operations, are in their first years as assistant coaches.
• Alex Brown takes over director of operations responsibilities.
• Portland has been to four NCAA Tournaments (1994-97), two WNIT's (1998 & 2009) and one WBI (2010).
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The Utah Valley Wolverines opened the season with a 63-54 home win over UCSB on Tuesday; Eve Braslis led the Wolverines with 17 points and nine rebounds.
• The Wolverines return two starters from last season's 11-19 team in juniors Jordan Holland and Gabrielle Leos.
• UVU has seven newcomers & returning redshirts, including five true freshmen.
• Cathy Nixon is in her 24th year as head coach at Utah Valley, and the Wolverines were predicted to finish fifth in the WAC this season.
• Last season in Portland Maddie Muhlheim scored 17 points and Keala Quinlan had eight huge points off the bench as the Pilots defeated the Wolverines 71-64 in overtime.
• The Weber State Wildcats host La Verne on Friday night before welcoming the Pilots to Ogden on Monday.
• Weber State went 21-11 last year and reached the second round of the postseason Women's Basketball Invitational.
• Senior guard Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman is the top leading scorer for the Wildcats after averaging 11.6 points per contest a year ago.
• Former Rhode Island assistant coach Velaida Harris is in her first year as head coach at Weber State.
• The Wildcats defeated the Pilots at the Chiles Center last season, despite 14 points by Portland's Kate Andersen.