ANCHORAGE, Alaska --- Portland senior Holly Blades matched a program record with seven three-pointers and junior Ashley Gray added 14 points and eight rebounds as the Pilots pulled away from the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves to win 66-57 on the opening night of the Great Alaska Shootout on Tuesday at the Alaska Airlines Center. The win sends the Pilots to the tournament title game against USC tomorrow night.

Blades was on fire all night long, but perhaps her biggest three came with 6:17 remaining that pushed the Pilots' lead to 60-47. The Pilots then tightened up on defense to try to seal the win, but the Seawolves were able to climb within six points with about 90 seconds left.

That's when Portland senior Kaylie Van Loo hit a clutch jumper from near the free throw line to push the lead back to eight points, and sophomore Julie Spencer made perhaps the play of the game at the other end of the court when she produced a crucial blocked shot. The Pilots (1-3) would run out the clock from there to pick up the victory against the No. 6 ranked NCAA Division II team, as the Seawolves (4-1) suffer their first defeat of the year.

Blades finished with a career-high 21 points to lead the Pilots. The seven three's match the program single-game record, which was set by Jennifer Wassom back in 2005.

Spencer recorded a career-high 11 points, with 10 of those coming in the first half. Gray was clutch at the free throw line, going 8-for-10, as the Pilots otherwise struggled from the charity stripe as a team. Her efforts on the glass, along with Spencer's eight boards, helped the Pilots outrebound the Shootout's host by a 37-35 margin.

Van Loo was solid as usual, registering 12 points, six assists and five rebounds. She missed only two shots from the field as the Pilots shot a season-best 50.0 percent.

Alaska Anchorage entered the night averaging close to 90 points per game, but the Pilots held the Seawolves to just 28.8 percent shooting. Alysha Devine and Autummn Williams both scored 13 points to lead the home team.

"We were great on defense, and our halftime emphasis was defensive rebounding and knocking down free throws," said Portland head coach Cheryl Sorenson. "The guards, and especially Van Loo, did a great job of handling 90 feet of pressure for 40 minutes. We finally had a night where the offense and defense showed up together and this was a great team win. We're excited to get to play again tomorrow."

Spencer opened the game by knocking down an elbow jumper, and Blades followed with a three-pointer to give the Pilots the early 7-4 lead. The Seawolves then went on a run to take their first lead of the night, but Blades connected on back-to-back three's to keep the Pilots close at 17-15. Devine then drained a three-pointer just before the end of the first quarter to hand UAA a 20-15 lead.

Van Loo and Gray cut into the deficit with jumpers to begin the second period, before another bucket from Gray made it a one-point game. But then after Van Loo tied it with a free throw, the Seawolves reclaimed the lead. The Pilots refused to go away, and Kate Andersen drained a key three-pointer to pull Portland within one. Spencer then gave the lead back to the Pilots with consecutive shots from down low, but again Alaska Anchorage surged back ahead.

But it was Van Loo who gave the Pilots a 34-33 advantage at the break when she beat the halftime buzzer with a jumper from the charity stripe. Spencer led all scorers at the half with 10 points, which at the time matched a career high in scoring.

The third quarter began with another three from Blades, this one from well behind the three-point arc. The guard would go on to hit two more from deep during the third to help extend the Pilots leads to seven points. And on the defensive end, the Pilots held their hosts to more than four minutes without a field goal, allowing Portland to embark on a 16-4 run to end the quarter. The Seawolves never fully recovered as the Pilots claimed the road win.

Tip-off for the Pilots and Trojans is set for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. USC advanced to the tourney title game with a convincing win over Missouri State earlier on Tuesday.