STOCKTON, Calif. – The California road trip for the Portland Pilots (16-6, 6-4 WCC) got off to a rocky start against the Pacific Tigers (6-17, 3-9 WCC) as Portland fell to Pacific 79-74. The loss snaps a three-game winning streak against the Tigers for the Pilots.

Liana Kaitu'u and Maisie Burnham were the leading scorers for the Pilots with 13 points each. This is Kaitu'u's first time leading the Pilots in scoring this year and Burnham's third. Burnham has led the Pilots in scoring in the past three games. Kaitu'u's 13 points were a season-high for the forward. Alex Fowler and Rose Pflug also had 11 and 10 points respectively.

Anaya James impressed for the Tigers with 23 points this afternoon. She was also 8-for-9 from the free-throw line, including several key free throws down the stretch. The Tigers as a team made 45.3% of their shots from the field and 41.2% of their threes.

On a positive note, Maddie Muhlheim once again made Pilot history in this one. With her start, Muhlheim officially played in her 134^th game as a Pilot. That is the most games played by a Pilot in program history. Earlier this year, Muhlheim became the 30^th Pilot to score 1,000 career points. She is also the program leader in made threes with 261.

The first half was a sloppy one for both teams, as the Pilots and Tigers each had 13 turnovers. Both teams shared the lead for most of the first 20 minutes, with the Pilots mainly being propelled by the hot offense of Liana Kaitu'u, Keeley Frawley and Emme Shearer. Kaitu'u had 11 points – already surpassing her season-high – while Frawley and Shearer added seven each as the Pilots led 32-31.

The Tigers came out strong in the third quarter and didn't look back. They made 66.7% of their shots and scored 27 points as they took a five-point lead heading into the final quarter. Pacific started the fourth just as strong, going on a 7-0 run to expand their lead to 12.

But the Pilots didn't bow out easily. Right when things looked most bleak, the Pilots ripped off a 9-0 run, forcing four turnovers during that stretch. With the score within three with just under five minutes left, momentum was on the Pilots' side. Unfortunately for Portland, some untimely fouls and miscues prevented them from closing the gap, leading to a 79-74 victory for Pacific.

For the third game in a row, the contributions from the bench were crucial for Portland. The Pilots got 38 points from their bench, with their two leading scorers – Burnham and Kaitu'u – both coming from off the pine. It's their second game in a row with at least 30 points coming from the bench.

Neither team did well taking care of the ball, with both teams combining for 45 turnovers. The Pilots turned it over just a bit more with 23 on the day, but they also capitalized on the Tigers' miscues with 25 points off turnovers.

Next up, the Pilots are headed to San Francisco for their matchup against the Dons. The two teams will face off on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video options.