Box Score
PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland sophomore forward Alexis Gannis registered her fifth double-double of the season and her second in the last three games to help the Pilots top the San Francisco Dons 53-50 in a West Coast Conference game at the Chiles Center on Thursday night. Gannis scored 20 points and corralled 17 rebounds, becoming the first Pilot since Rachel Warren in 2006 to finish with 17 boards.
The Pilots pick up their third straight win to improve to 14-7 overall and to 3-3 in the WCC. It’s the 12th straight loss for the Dons, who drop to 4-19 (0-6 WCC).
USF led 30-26 at the half and opened its biggest lead at 43-38 with 9:29 remaining. Portland hung around by connecting at the free line before Gannis went off, scoring Portland’s final 11 points of the game. Her lay-up down the lane with 2:53 remaining ended a nearly 13-minute stretch without a field goal for UP and pulled the Pilots within 46-45.
Gannis wouldn’t let up as she would hurt San Francisco with three consecutive lay-ups to give the Pilots a slim one-point lead with 43 ticks showing on the clock. At the other end, Gannis out-jumped everybody to pull down the huge rebound on a missed three-pointer by USF’s Vania Singleterry. Gannis was then immediately fouled with Portland leading 51-50 and just 23 seconds remaining.
Gannis calmly hit both free throws on the one-and-one to make it a three-point game. The Dons then got off three possible game-tying three-pointers in the closing seconds, but Rheina Ale and Katy Keating were both off the mark, while Singleterry was swatted by UP junior Tara Cronin as Portland would hold on for the win.
Gannis easily set a new career high in rebounds and was one point off matching a career high in scoring. She was seven of nine from the field and hit six free throws.
Portland shot 39.6 percent (19-for-48) against the Dons, hit three three-pointers and went 12-for-20 at the line.
Senior guard Laiken Dollente helped carry the Pilots’ offensive for most of the night and finished with 18 points. Sophomore guard ReZina TecleMariam scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game, finishing with 11 points. She also handed out six assists.
Ale tallied a team-high 15 points for the Dons, while finishing with six assists. Nnenna Okereke had a team-high 13 rebounds.
The Pilots held USF to 35.2 percent (19-for-54) shooting and the Dons were four of 18 from downtown and 8-for-15 at the line.
UP outrebounded San Francisco 37-36, while neither team was hurt too badly by turnovers, with the Dons committing 17 and the Pilots countering with 16.
Portland played without the services of sophomore wing Natalie Day, who sat out the game with an injury. Day is fresh off a career-high 28 points during Portland’s overtime win at Pepperdine last Saturday.
The Pilots next welcome the Santa Clara Broncos to town for a 2:00 p.m. WCC tilt on Saturday.
