Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. --- Portland senior Laiken Dollente had 17 points and eight assists, junior Jessica Clemens and sophomore Alexis Gannis each registered a double-double and the Pilots easily defeated the San Francisco Dons 80-52 in a West Coast Conference women’s basketball game at War Memorial Gym on Thursday night. The win keeps alive Portland’s chance at the No. 4 seed in the league and a bye in the first round at next week’s WCC Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
The Pilots snap a three-game conference skid to improve to 17-11 overall and to 6-7 in the WCC. San Francisco has lost 17 of its last 18 and are now 5-25 overall and 1-12 in the WCC.
The Pilots led by 18 at the half and never looked back en route to the 28-point win. The lead would grow to 30 as Portland got plenty of production off of the bench from Clemens, junior Egle Karolyte, sophomore Natalie Day and freshman Sarah Kliewer. Day notched 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Pilots scored 33 points off of the bench.
Clemens had 12 points and 10 boards for her first career double-double. She hit all five or her shots from the floor, including both of her attempts from downtown.
Gannis tallied her team-high seventh double-double of the year with 11 points and 12 rebounds. The conference’s best offensive rebounder helped the Pilots finish with a sizable 49-34 edge in the battle of the boards.
Dollente did a little bit of everything for Portland, including hitting all four of her attempts from the line. Dollente entered the game as the most accurate free throw shooter in the country.
TecleMariam also put in some productive minutes for UP, coming in with seven points and eight rebounds.
Katy Keating the led the Dons with nine points, hitting three three-pointers on the night.
The Pilots took control early in the first half and enjoyed their first double-digit lead of the night when a lay-up from junior forward Jessica Clemens made it 16-6 nine minutes in. The Pilots would build on the lead from there, taking a 41-23 advantage into the locker room.
Portland got a boost off its bench in the first half Day and Clemens scored six and nine points, respectively, during the game’s first 20 minutes.
The Pilots shot 44.8 percent (30-for-67) on the night, connected on nine three-pointers and went 11-for-12 from the line. USF shot 32.3 percent (20-for-62), hit four three’s and was eight of 16 from the line.
The Pilots next head down the road to Santa Clara, Calif., for their final regular season game on Saturday. The Santa Clara Broncos will host UP at 2:00 p.m. at the Leavey Center.
