2010 Women’s Basketball Invitational
Wednesday • March 17 • 6:00 PM • Seattle, Wash. (Bank of America Arena- 10,000)
Live Audio: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: GoHuskies.com
Series: UW leads 8-0
Last Meeting: UW 64, POR 50 - Nov. 26, 1999 (Honolulu, Hawaii)
This Week in Pilots Basketball
The Portland Pilots (18-12, 7-7 WCC), who are making the 10th post-season visit in program history and seventh at the NCAA Division I level, will travel to Seattle, Wash., on Wednesday to face the Washington Huskies (12-17, 7-11 Pac-10) in the First Round of the inaugural 16-team Women’s Basketball Invitational. Tip-off between the Pilots and Huskies is set for 6:00 p.m. at Bank of America Arena.
The winner between Portland and Washington will advance to play the winner of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Cal State Bakersfield, who also play on Wednesday in Texas.
Game Coverage
UP will provide a free audio broadcast of the Pilots-Huskies game at PortlandPilots.com. Simply click on the “Multimedia” tab at the top of UP’s main athletics website, or visit the women’s basketball schedule on PortlandPilots.com to access the broadcast. In addition, GoHuskies.com will provide free livestats for the game, which can also be accessed through PortlandPilots.com
A Brief Look Back
The Pilots had a brief stay at the West Coast Conference Championships after the upstart Santa Clara Broncos defeated Portland 74-61 in the quarterfinals at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The Pilots led 36-31 at the break, but went ice cold from the field in the second half and were outscored 43-25. Senior guard Laiken Dollente led Portland with 23 points, while sophomore wing Natalie Day had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
About the WBI
The inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational features a strong field of BCS conference schools, 20-game winners and solid mid-major programs. The 16-team field, which is split into two eight-team regions, is headlined by No. 1 seeds Memphis in the West and Appalachian State in the East. All eight first round games will be played on campus sites either March 17 or 18 with the winners advancing to the second round on March 20 or 21. The WBI semifinals are March 24 or 25 on campus sites with the championship game slated for March 28 or 29 at the site of the highest remaining seed.
The higher seeds will host each game unless a scheduling or facility conflict forces the game to the lower seed. Please visit WomensBasketballInvitational.com for more information or follow the tournament on Twitter at twitter.com/WBI2010.
About Washington
The Huskies, who tied for seventh place in the Pac-10 Conference, ended the regular season on a three-game winning streak before losing to the Oregon State Beavers 52-42 at the Pac-10 Tournament last week. Senior wing Sami Whitcomb, UW’s leading scorer with a 13.2 per game mark, led the Huskies with 18 points against the Beavs. Whitcomb is the only Washington player averaging double figures in scoring and she leads the team in rebounding (5.9 rpg). Sophomore guard Kristi Kingma is second in scoring (9.2 ppg). As a team, the Huskies are averaging 60.2 points per game, while allowing 63.8. Tia Jackson is in her third season as head coach of the Huskies. Last season, Washington went 8-22 overall and 3-15 in the Pac-10. 11 letterwinners and four starters returned this season.
Pilots/Huskies Series
This is the first meeting between UP and UW since the 1999-2000 season, when the Huskies defeated the Pilots 64-50 at a tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Huskies have won all eight previous meetings against the Pilots, posting a 4-0 record in Seattle.
Postseason History
The Portland Pilots are back in the post-season for the second straight season and for the tenth time in program history. It’s the seventh time to reach the post-season as an NCAA Division I program, as the Pilots reached the NAIA playoffs three times in the early to mid 1980’s.
Last season, the Pilots ended a ten-year post-season drought, advancing to the first round of the WNIT. Previously, Portland was a post-season regular throughout the 1990’s, reaching the NCAA Tournament four straight years (1993-97). UP played in the WNIT following the 1998-99 season. Despite it’s numerous appearances, UP has yet to win a post-season game as a DI school, which it became in 1986.
Winning Ways
Portland followed its success in 2008-09 with an even more successful season this year. The Pilots, who went 17-14 last year and are 18-12 this winter, put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 10 years. Portland has also registered the most wins in a season since the 1997-98 campaign, when the Pilots went 19-9. This marks just the fifth time since Portland moved up to NCAA Division I in 1986 to win at least 18 games.
All-WCC for Dollente and Gannis
Portland senior Laiken Dollente was named to the All-West Coast Conference First Team for the third time in her career, while sophomore Alexis Gannis earned all-conference honorable mention. Dollente earned conference honors all four years on The Bluff, while Gannis landed on the WCC’s All-Freshman Team last season. The only year Dollente didn’t earn all-conference first-team honors was during her sophomore year, when she garnered all-league honorable mention.
Dollente, a guard, currently ranks second in the country in free throw shooting, hitting 146 of 158 attempts this winter for a percentage of .924. She also leads the team and ranks third in the WCC in scoring (16.6 ppg) and is second in the league in assists (4.7 apg). Gannis, a forward, has reached double figures in rebounding 11 times this season. She leads the team and ranks third in the WCC in rebounding (8.2 rpg), while averaging 9.4 points per game. Gannis also has a team-high seven double-doubles this winter and she currently leads the WCC in offensive rebounds (3.1 rpg) and field goal percentage (.609) during WCC contests.
Court Smart AND Book Smart
Dollente is also getting it done in the classroom as she and junior teammate Tara Cronin both landed on the WCC’s Winter All-Academic Team. Dollente is on pace to graduate this spring with a degree in communications and has a 3.25 cumulative GPA. Cronin is a mechanical engineering major and boasts a GPA of 3.66. It’s the second straight year for both Dollente and Cronin to land on the WCC’s All-Academic Team.
I Hate Goodbye’s
Hard to believe, but Saturday, Feb. 20, marked the final regular season appearance at the Chiles Center for senior guard Laiken Dollente, one of the most prolific scorers and most accurate shooters in program history. Currently No. 3 all-time at Portland with 1,863 career points, the native of Yakima, Wash., sits behind only Martha Sheldon (1,953) and UP’s all-time overall leading scorer Lorena Legarde (2,568). Sheldon (1988-92) is Portland’s all-time leading scorer at the NCAA Division I level as Legarde’s (1981-85) career took place when UP was still competing as an NAIA school.
Dollente also currently ranks first all-time at UP in free throw shooting (.884) and three-point accuracy (.403), is second in free throws (570) and three-pointers made (213), is fifth in career points per game (15.4), is sixth in assists (401) and is seventh in field goals made with 540 career makes. She enters this week nine made free throws shy of setting a new career record in that category, and is 11 three-pointers away from the top of the that list.
Money from the Line
Laiken Dollente is currently the second most accurate free throw shooter in the country. Dollente has hit 146 of 158 attempts this winter for a percentage of .924, which is just behind Kelsey Luna (125-for-134, .933) of Indiana State. Dollente, who is the most accurate free throw shooter in UP history with a career mark of .884, finished second in the country in free throw shooting as a sophomore.
As a team, the Pilots rank sixth in the nation with a free throw percentage of .774.
The Laik Show
This season, Laiken Dollente is scoring and spreading the wealth. She leads the team and ranks third in the WCC in scoring (16.6 ppg) and is second in assists (4.7 apg). She also leads the league and is second in the nation in free throw percentage (.924), while leading the WCC in three-point percentage (.404).
Dollente’s 31 points against Montana State on Dec. 21 are tied for the second most scored in a game by a WCC player this season. It was the third time in her career to score at least 30 points and the first since notching 30 on Jan. 27, 2007 at San Francisco. She also handed out a career-high 10 assists during the win at Utah Valley on Dec. 29, becoming the first UP player to dish 10 assists in a game since Trisha Felts accomplished the feat on Feb. 26, 2000. Dollente scored 19 points at UVU for her second career double-double.
Dollente has been named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week twice this season and was named to the All-WCC First Team for the third time in her career.
On Point
It’s no secret that UP’s success this winter has coincided with the improved and consistent play of sophomore point guard ReZina TecleMariam. Z is averaging career bests of 9.3 points per game, 5.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists. A native of Puyallup, Wash., TecleMariam stepped up her play during the conference slate and averaged 10.5 points per game during WCC games
TecleMariam ripped down a career-high 11 boards in the victory at Washington State (Dec. 13) and she’s scored a career-high 18 points twice this season. Perhaps her most impressive stat-lines this year were at Idaho (10 pts, 9 rebs, 6 assts, 0 TO’s, 40 mins) and at Seattle (13 pts, 9 rebs, 7 assts, 1 TO, 43 mins).
Glad to Assist
The Pilots are playing unselfish basketball this winter and have the stats to prove it. UP is averaging 15.9 assists per game, which ranks second in the WCC and 24th in the nation. The Pilots have three players in the top four in the WCC in assists, with Laiken Dollente ranking second (4.7 apg), ReZina TecleMariam third (3.9 apg) and Tara Cronin fourth (3.3 apg). Z and Dollente are tied for second in assists-turnover ratio (1.5), while Cronin is fourth with a ratio of 1.4.
Seize the Day
Before the season began, the NCAA waived its one-year residence requirement for sophomore transfer Natalie Day and she is taking full advantage. Day, who recently returned from a strained Achilles tendon, is second on the Pilots in scoring with an 11.6 per game mark, while averaging 4.3 rebounds per game. She has scored in double figures 17 times.
During Portland’s two road wins at LMU and Pepperdine (Jan. 21-23), Day shot 17-for-24 (.708) from the field and averaged 23.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. She also hit six of nine (.667) three-pointers and went 6-for-7 at the free throw line. Against Pepperdine on Jan. 23, Day poured in a career-high 28 points on 11 of 15 shooting. She also went 4-for-5 on three-pointers, hit both of her free throws and scored nine points in overtime to help the Pilots to an 82-76 win.
The guard/forward from Germantown, Md., transferred to UP from Howard University and was expected to sit out the entire year. She will have two years of eligibility remaining following the season.
Alexis: The Pursuit of Perfection
After earning WCC All-Freshman honors last season, sophomore forward Alexis Gannis has taken her game to a new level. Gannis has reached double figures in rebounding 11 times this season and she dropped a career-high 21 points against Eastern Washington on Nov. 14. The native of Phoenix, Ariz., has also recorded her first seven career double-doubles and registered four straight games of double-digit rebounds earlier this season. Gannis was named the WCC Co-Player of the Week after ripping down 17 boards against USF on Jan. 28, becoming the first Pilot to have that many rebounds in a game since 2006.
She currently leads the WCC in offensive rebounds (3.1 rpg) and ranks third in overall rebounding (8.3 rpg). She is third on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg), her career field goal percentage of .507 ranks fourth all-time at UP and her .609 field goal percentage during conference play led the WCC.
500 and Counting
Head coach Jim Sollars notched career win No. 500 when the Pilots defeated the Idaho Vandals 67-56 on Nov. 11 in Moscow, Idaho. In 34-plus years as a head women’s basketball coach, Sollars has compiled 512 wins at three different schools. He began his head coaching career in 1976 at Wenatchee Valley Community College, where he tallied 154 wins in seven years. During three years (1983-86) at the helm of Portland State, Sollars added 23 more wins to the resume before moving to The Bluff. While at UP, the native of Longview, Wash., has posted 335 wins.
With 149 WCC wins, Sollars has won more league games than any other coach in the 22-year history of the conference.
Quite the Trip
Portland’s two-game swing through soggy Southern California (Jan. 21-23) was a historical one for the Pilots. It marked the first time Portland won at both LMU and Pepperdine on the same trip since 1997.
During the 94-91 win at LMU on Thursday, the Pilots shot 61.8 percent (34-for-55) from the floor, setting a program single-game record at the NCAA Division I level. As an NAIA school, UP shot .644 against Humboldt State during the 1985-86 season. The 94 points scored were also the most scored by the Pilots in a WCC game since registering 101 in 1996, also against the Lions.
Two Sports? No Problem
Junior Jessica Clemens is now in her third year as a two-sport athlete at the University of Portland. Clemens, who is an outside hitter on the UP volleyball team, joined the Pilots in early December and is averaging career bests of 5.4 points and 4.3 rebounds. A native of Burns, Ore., and the sister of NFL quarterback Kellen Clemens, Jessica recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards at USF last week. She matched a season high with 14 points against Santa Clara on Jan. 30
WCC Coaches Pick Pilots to Finish Fourth
Portland senior guard Laiken Dollente was voted to the WCC’s Preseason All-Conference team, while Gonzaga was chosen as the favorite to claim the West Coast Conference women’s basketball title for the second straight year in the 2009-10 preseason coaches poll. The Pilots were picked to finish fourth.
Nearly a Chalupa
Portland just missed reaching the century mark for the first time in 12 years when it defeated the Sacramento State Hornets 98-63 at the Chiles Center on Nov. 22. The point total is the highest for the Pilots since a 107-74 win over Idaho on Jan. 4, 1997. UP outscored Sac State 55-33 during the second half to match a program DI record for points in a half.
