PORTLAND PILOTS (10-12, 2-9 WCC)
vs. #12 Gonzaga Bulldogs (21-2, 10-1 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Feb. 9, 2019
Place: Portland, Ore.
Time: 4:30 PM
Gym: Chiles Center
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. GON
Overall: 27-51  •  Last 5/10: 0-5/0-10
H: 14-22  •  A: 10-27  •  N: 3-2
Last: @GON 97, POR 71 (1/12/19)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots host the No. 12 Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday in their only game of the week, which is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Chiles Center.
• The contest with the Bulldogs is part of a hoops double header on The Bluff as the men follow with a game against Loyola Marymount.
• A live stream for the game and live stats can be found at PortlandPilots.com
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots scored 30 points in the first quarter at Saint Mary's last Thursday to take an early lead, but the Gaels shot 63 percent en route to a 113-85 win.
• Darian Slaga matched a season-high with 25 points.
• On Saturday at Pacific, the Tigers led by double digits at half before holding on for an 87-77 win over the Pilots.
• Portland did tie the score early in the fourth quarter before the Tigers pulled away.
• Kate Andersen had a big game scoring a season-high 19 points, while Maddie Muhlheim added 13 points.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Senior guard Darian Slaga was named UP's US Bank Student-Athlete of the Month for January, along with Portland runner Logan Orndorf; Slaga averaged 19.1 points per contest during the month, which included back-to-back 25-point games against USF and at Saint Mary's.
• With 22 points against Pacific on Jan. 3, Slaga became the 25th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point milestone.
• Slaga currently has 1,152 career points, which ranks 16th all-time at UP.
• Slaga is also third all-time with an .812 career free throw percentage, and she's sixth in career three-pointers with 139.
• In the conference, Slaga ranks third three-pointers made (46), is fourth in free throw percentage (.808), and sixth in scoring (15.9 ppg), 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.
• With 25 points against Santa Clara on Jan. 24, Julie Spencer became the 26th player in program history, and the second this season, to reach 1,000 career points; she enters the weekend with 1,038 points
• Spencer also ranks No. 2 all-time at Portland with 475 defensive rebounds and she's seventh in overall rebounds with 696 career boards.
• Spencer is fourth in the WCC in rebounds (7.9) and is ninth in points (15.0).
• The senior has five double-doubles this year, which is tied for the third most in the WCC, and she corralled 14 boards in a game twice, at Weber State (Nov. 12) and vs. USF (Jan. 26).
• Guard Haylee Andrews is the No. 2 scoring freshman in the WCC, putting up 12.0 points a game.
• Portland is the No. 2 offense in the WCC, averaging 74.9 points per contest.
• The Pilots lead the West Coast Conference in free throw percentage (.770) and they rank 11th nationally.
• 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.
• 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; she's fifth this season in the WCC with 45 three's.
• 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 No. 12 ranking (USA Today/WBCA Coaches' Poll) for the Gonzaga Bulldogs is the highest ranking in program history.
• The Bulldogs are the top defensive team in the WCC, allowing just 57.5 points per contest, while scoring 73.7.
• Six GU players are averaging more than eight points a game, with senior forward Zykera Rice scoring a team-high 13.8 points.
• Rice is also the team's top rebounder with a 6.2 per game mark.
• Gonzaga's only two losses this season came to then-No. 1 Notre Dame and at BYU.
• Lisa Fortier is in her fourth season as head coach of the Bulldogs, and she's led GU to two consecutive NCAA tournaments.