PORTLAND PILOTS (9-9, 1-6 WCC)
WEEK 11: vs. Santa Clara / San Francisco
 
Santa Clara Broncos (9-9, 2-5 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Jan. 24, 2019
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. SCU
Overall: 30-44  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/1-9
H: 15-16  •  A: 11-25  •  N: 4-3
Last: @SCU 67, POR 57 (2/15/18)
 
San Francisco Dons (5-13, 1-6 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Jan. 26, 2019
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 2:00 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. USF
Overall: 31-35  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/1-9
H: 19-12  •  A: 12-19  •  N: 0-4
Last: USF 76, @POR 63 (2/8/18)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots return home this week to complete their first swing through the West Coast Conference.
• On Thursday night, the Santa Clara Broncos visit the Chiles Center for a 7 p.m. game.
• Saturday brings a match-up with the San Francisco Dons, with tip-off set for 2 p.m.
• Live streams and live stats for both games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots split their two games on the road last week, winning 69-60 at San Diego on Thursday night before falling at BYU 79-71 on Saturday after leading the entire game.
• Against the Toreros Darian Slaga scored 17 points, Haylee Andrews collected 16, and the Pilots jumped out to an early lead before prevailing by nine.
• In Provo, the Pilots led the Cougars by 16 points in the first half and 10 points in the third quarter, and they still lead by eight with just over three minutes left to play before BYU embarked on a 16-0 run to claim the win.
• Andrews scored 19 points against BYU and Julie Spencer collected her fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots lead the West Coast Conference in free throw percentage (.777) and they rank eighth nationally.
• Portland is also No. 1 in the WCC and No. 32 in the country in three-pointers (8.5) per game.
• 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.
• Senior Julie Spencer enters the weekend with 992 career points and she's trying to become the second Pilot to reach the 1,000-point milestone this season.
• Spencer also ranks No. 4 all-time at Portland with 448 defensive rebounds and she's ninth in overall rebounds with 659 career boards.
• Spencer is second in the WCC in three-pointers made (38), fifth in rebounds (7.6), and sixth in points (15.8).
• The senior has five double-doubles this year, ranking third 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.
• With 22 points against Pacific on Jan. 3, senior Darian Slaga became the 25th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point milestone.
• Slaga currently has 1,077 career points, which ranks 19th all-time at UP.
• Slaga is also third all-time with an .817 career free throw percentage, and she's seventh in career three-pointers with 131.
• In the conference, Slaga ranks third in free throw percentage (.828) and three-pointers made (38), and the six three's she buried against Pacific are a career high and are tied for the most in a game this season by a WCC player.
• Sophomore Maddie Muhlheim has missed only on free throw this year, going 29-for-30 (.967); her only miss came on Jan. 5 against Saint Mary's.
• Last year Muhlheim set a program record for three-pointers by a freshman when she knocked down 48 from behind the arc.
• Sophomore Josie Matz just missed a program record by making all nine of her foul shots at Pepperdine; the program's DI record for most free throws in a game without a miss is 11, which happened in 2011 (Alexis Byrd).
• 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.
• Four different players (Andersen, Andrews, Slaga, Spencer) have registered a double-double this season for the Pilots, and four different players (Andrews, Muhlheim, Slaga, Spencer) have scored at least 20 points in at least one game.
• 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 Santa Clara Broncos are coming off a pair of home losses to Pacific and Saint Mary's.
• The Broncos rank 10th in the WCC in scoring offense (60.2) and they're third in fewest points allowed (63.8).
• Junior guard Tia Hay leads the team in scoring (15.3), sophomore forward Ashlyn Herlihy is averaging 10.2 points and 6.6 boards per contest, and junior forward Lauren Yearwood is 15th nationally in blocks (2.6)
• Head coach Bill Carr is in his third year at Santa Clara, and the Broncos were picked to finish sixth in the WCC.
• The San Francisco Dons come to The Bluff on a six-game losing streak.
• The Dons are scoring 68.8 points per contest and allowing 72.9.
• Senior guard Shannon Powell leads the team in both scoring (16.6) and rebounds (6.0), while freshman forward Julia Nielacna is also averaging double digits in points with a per game mark of 11.4.
• The Dons were selected to place eighth in the WCC, and head coach Molly Goodenbour is in her third season at the helm of the USF program.