PORTLAND PILOTS (5-2)
WEEK 5: vs. Warner Pacific / Willamette
 
Warner Pacific Knights (6-2)
Day: Friday
Date: Dec. 7, 2018
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. WP
Overall: 9-2  •  Last 5/10: 4-1/8-2
H: 5-1  •  A: 2-0  •  U: 1-1
Last: @POR 95, WP 59 (12/8/17)
 
Willamette Bearcats (3-5)
Day: Sunday
Date: Dec. 9, 2018
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 2:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. WU
Overall: 7-1  •  Last 5/10: 5-0/7-1
H: 4-0  •  A: 1-0  •  N: 1-0  •  U: 1-1
Last: @POR 72, WU 52 (11/12/17)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots play a pair of home games this weekend at the Chiles Center, hosting Warner Pacific on Friday night and Willamette on Sunday afternoon.
• Tip-off with the Knights is set for 7 p.m., while Sunday's game against the Bearcats will begin at 2 p.m.
• Links for a live stream and live stats for both games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots split their two games last week, topping Utah State at home on Wednesday before dropping a high-scoring game at Portland State on Saturday.
• Against the Aggies, Josie Matz exploded for 15 points in the fourth quarter to spark a 61-54 comeback win.
• Matz finished with 19 points overall, while Julie Spencer added 16 and Darian Slaga scored 12.
• Against the Vikings, the Pilots overcame a sluggish start to jump ahead in the second quarter, but Portland State would eventually claim a 92-79 win.
• The Vikings scored the game's first 13 points, but Slaga buried a career-high five three-pointers to allow the Pilots to hang around.
• Slaga would finish with 23 points to lead four Pilots in double figures.
• PSU's Ashley Bolston registered a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists, and she came up one steal shy of a quadruple-double.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland's 5-1 record to begin the year was the best start to a season since 2001-02.
• The Pilots also opened the year with three straight road wins, which hadn't happened since 2010-11.
• The Pilots are No. 1 in the WCC in three-pointers made (64), and they rank third in both scoring offense (74.1 ppg) and free throw percentage (.762).
• Senior guard Darian Slaga is quickly approaching 1,000 career points as she enters the week with 923; she's trying to become the 25th player in Portland women's basketball history to join the 1,000-point club.
• Slaga's 17.1 points per game ranks fourth in the WCC; she's also No. 1 in the conference with 19 three-pointers, and the five three's she hit at Portland State are tied for the most in a game by a WCC player this season.
• Slaga also currently ranks third all-time at UP with an .805 career free throw percentage, and she just entered the top 10 for career three-pointers with 112.
• Senior Julie Spencer poured in a career-best 26 points with the help of a career-high five three-pointers against Cal State Fullerton; she also had 11 boards against the Titans for her conference-best third double-double.
• Spencer is second in the WCC in rebounding (8.3 rpg), and she corralled 14 boards during a win at Weber State, which are tied for the most rebounds in a game by a WCC player this season.
• Spencer should also reach 1,000 career points by the end of the season, knock on wood, as she currently has 813.
• She ranks No. 4 all-time at Portland with 399 defensive rebounds; she's collected 581 career rebounds overall, and she's close to cracking UP's all-time top 10 in that category.
• Portland freshman Haylee Andrews is off to a stellar start to her career, averaging 12.3 points and a team-best 4.0 assists through seven games.
• Andrews opened her collegiate career with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists during a win over Utah Valley, and she corralled a career-best 10 boards last week against Utah Valley.
• Sophomore Maddie Muhlheim is a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line this season, and she's No. 2 in the WCC (behind Slaga) with 18 three's.
• Last year Muhlheim set a program record for three-pointers by a freshman when she knocked down 48 from behind the arc.
• The Pilots returned their five top scorers from a year ago, and they brought back 78 percent of their scoring from the 2017-18 season.
• Slaga earned All-WCC 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.
• Spencer also earned All-WCC Honorable Mention in 2017-18.
• 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.
• 2018-19 marks the fifth year for head coach Cheryl Sorenson, who was previously an assistant for the Pilots.
• 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 Warner Pacific Knights are 6-2 on the season, and they're outscoring their opponents 77.4 to 68.1.
• The Knights feature a balanced scoring attack as sophomore guard Gabriella Bruno is the only player scoring in double digits, averaging 13.7 points per contest.
• Senior guard Deepika Kapil is the team's top rebounder (9.0 rpg).
• Matt Gregg is in his 11th year as head coach of the Knights.
• The Willamette Bearcats enter Thursday's game at Corban with a 3-5 overall record.
• Willamette is putting up 57.6 points per game, and senior guard Britanny Kochenderfer is averaging a double-double with per game marks of 13.9 points and 11.6 rebounds.
• Peg Swadener is in her sixth season at the helm of the Bearcats.