PORTLAND PILOTS (8-5, 0-2 WCC)
WEEK 8: vs. Pacific / Saint Mary's
 
Pacific Tigers (8-3, 1-0 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Jan. 3, 2019
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. PAC
Overall: 9-11  •  Last 5/10: 2-3/2-8
H: 4-4  •  A: 4-5  •  N: 1-2
Last: PAC 85, POR 60 (3/1/18 at Las Vegas)
 
Saint Mary's Gaels (7-5, 0-1 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Jan. 5, 2019
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 2:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. SMC
Overall: 21-45  •  Last 5/10: 1-4/1-9
H: 14-17  •  A: 6-25  •  N: 1-3
Last: @SMC 77, POR 49 (2/17/18)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots return to The Bluff this week to host the Pacific Tigers and Saint Mary's Gaels in a pair of West Coast Conference games at the Chiles Center.
• First the Tigers visit for a 7 p.m. contest on Thursday night.
• On Saturday the Gaels come to North Portland, with tip-off set for 2 p.m.
• Links for live streams and live stats can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots opened the West Conference campaign with a trip to Southern California, where the Pepperdine Waves defeated Portland 82-68 on Saturday and the Loyola Marymount Lions claimed a 76-58 victory on Monday.
• Against the Waves, the Pilots recovered from an early deficit to pull within two points late in the fourth quarter, but Pepperdine used a 15-0 run to seal the win.
• Kate Andersen scored a season-best 18 points, and Josie Matz was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line en route to 11 points.
• As a team the Pilots made all 17 of their free throw attempts, which matched a program record for most foul shots made in a game without a miss.
• On Monday Julie Spencer collected her fourth double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Lions pulled away in the fourth quarter.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots opened conference play by making an impressive 23 of their 26 free throws.
• Portland shot a perfect 17-for-17 at the line at Pepperdine (Dec. 29) to match a program record for most free throws made in a game without a miss.
• On the season, Portland is shooting .769 from the charity stripe, which ranks 21st nationally.
• Maddie Muhlheim is 17-for-17 from the line this season, and Josie Matz just missed a program record by making all nine of her foul shots at Pepperdine.
• Portland's 7-2 record after nine games was the Pilots' best start to a season since 1997-98, while 8-3 was the program's best mark since 2010-11.
• The Pilots also opened the year with three straight road wins, which hadn't happened since 2010-11.
• The Pilots have already surpassed last year's win total of seven victories.
• The Pilots are the top scoring offense in the West Coast Conference, averaging 74.8 points per game.
• Portland is also No. 2 in the WCC in three-pointers (8.6), free throw percentage (.769), steals per game (9.2) and rebounds (40.5), and they rank third in scoring margin (+5.5).
• Senior Darian Slaga enters the weekend with 990 career points and is on the verge of becoming the 25th player in Portland women's basketball history to join the 1,000-point club.
• Slaga also ranks third all-time at UP with an .816 career free throw percentage, and she's tied for eighth in career three-pointers with 117.
• Senior Julie Spencer is also on pace to reach the 1,000 career point milestone as she currently has 914 points.
• Spencer ranks No. 4 all-time at Portland with 424 defensive rebounds and she's 10th in overall rebounds with 627 career boards.
• Spencer is second in the WCC in three-pointers made (29) and offensive rebounds (3.2), she's fourth in overall rebounds (8.0), and fifth in points (15.8).
• The senior has four double-doubles this year, ranking second in the WCC, and she corralled 14 boards during a win at Weber State, which are tied for the second most rebounds in a game by a WCC player this season.
• Freshman Haylee Andrews is off to a stellar start to her career, averaging 11.5 points and a team-best 4.3 assists.
• Andrews opened her collegiate career with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists during a win over Utah Valley (Nov. 10), and she corralled a career-best 10 boards against Utah State (Nov. 28).
• She also claimed her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 assists vs. Warner Pacific (Dec. 7); the 10 dimes are tied for the most in a game by a WCC player this season.
• Last year Maddie 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.
• 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 Pacific Tigers opened play in the WCC with a 76-67 home win over Saint Mary's.
• The Tigers are scoring 73.0 points per contest, while allowing 68.3, and they lead the conference in turnover margin (+4.5).
• Sophomore Valerie Higgins (17.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg) leads the WCC with four double-doubles, and she's tops in steals (3.3 spg).
• Head coach Bradley Davis is in his fourth season at the helm of the program.
• The Saint Mary's Gaels feature a balanced offensive attack as they're out-scoring their opponents 73.7 to 71.1 this season.
• The Gaels rank 12th nationally and lead the league in field goal percentage (47.6), and they're also tops in the WCC in assists (17.3) and three-pointers (8.7).
• Sydney Raggio (13.3 ppg) and Emily Codding (11.8) are the only Gaels averaging double-digits in scoring, and Raggio is the top rebounder in the conference with an 8.7 per game mark.
• Paul Thomas is in his 13th year as head coach of the Gaels, and he's led Saint Mary's to seven straight 20-win seasons.