PORTLAND PILOTS (8-7, 0-4 WCC)
WEEK 9: at No. 14 Gonzaga
 
#14 Gonzaga Bulldogs (15-1, 4-0 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Jan. 12, 2019
Place: Spokane, Wash.
Time: 2:00 PM
Gym: McCarthey Athletic Center
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. GON
Overall: 27-50  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/0-10
H: 14-22  •  A: 10-26  •  N: 3-2
Last: @GON 75, POR 30 (1/25/18)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots travel to Spokane, Wash., this weekend to battle the No. 14 Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
• Tip-off for the long-time northwest rivals is set for 2 p.m.
• Links for a live stream and live stats can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots dropped their two WCC games at the Chiles Center as the Pacific Tigers claimed a 76-66 win on Thursday night, and the Saint Mary's Gaels held off Portland 98-91 in a high-scoring contest on Saturday afternoon.
• Darian Slaga scored her 1,000th career point against the Tigers and the Pilots nearly came all the way back from a second-half deficit, but Pacific held on for the win.
• In the second half, the Pilots cut what was a 21-point deficit down to six before time ran out.
• Slaga hit a career-high six three-pointers.
• Portland had three players score at least 20 points against the Gaels and the game remained close until the end, but Saint Mary's prevailed.
• Julie Spencer scored 23 points to lead the Pilots, Slaga added 21 points, and Maddie Muhlheim provided a career-high 20 points off the bench.
• Down 13, the Pilots went on a quick 9-2 run to pull within 88-82 with 2:59 left, and the margin was still only six after Spencer knocked down a step-back three, but that's as close as the Pilots would get as the Gaels hit enough free throws to claim the win.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots are the top scoring offense in the West Coast Conference, averaging 75.3 points per game.
• Portland is also No. 1 in the WCC in three-pointers (8.9) and free throw percentage (.769), and they're 3rd in steals per game (9.3) and scoring margin (+3.6).
• Portland ranks 17th nationally in free throw percentage, and they're 26th in three-pointers 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.
• With 22 points last Thursday against Pacific, senior Darian Slaga became the 25th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point milestone.
• Slaga enters the weekend with 1,033 career points.
• Slaga also ranks third all-time at UP with an .819 career free throw percentage, and she's tied for seventh in career three-pointers with 126.
• In the conference, Slaga is tied for second (with teammates Julie Spencer and Maddie Muhlheim) for three-pointers made (33), she's fourth in free throw percentage (.837), 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.
• Senior Julie Spencer is also on pace to reach the 1,000 career point milestone as she currently has 948 points.
• Spencer ranks No. 4 all-time at Portland with 430 defensive rebounds and she's 10th in overall rebounds with 638 career boards.
• Spencer is second in the WCC in three-pointers made (33), fifth in overall rebounds (7.7), and sixth in points (16.0).
• The senior has four double-doubles this year, ranking fourth 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.
• Sophomore Maddie Muhlheim is 21-22 (.955) from the line this season, missing her first foul shot of the year last Saturday against Saint Mary's.
• Last year Maddie 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.
• 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 Gonzaga Bulldogs are ranked No. 14th in the AP poll, which is the highest ranking in program history.
• GU's lone loss this season came against No. 1 Notre Dame.
• The Zags are out-scoring their opponents by an average of 72.4 to 56.6, and they lead the WCC in fewest points allowed, blocks (4.1), steals (10.3), and fewest turnovers (14.2).
• Fiver players are averaging 8-plus points for Gonzaga, led by two-time reigning conference player of the week Zykera Rice (13.4 ppg).
• Rice is also the team's top rebounder with a 6.8 per game mark.
• Lisa Fortier is in her fourth season as head coach of the Bulldogs, and she's led GU to two consecutive NCAA tournaments.