A loss to the Zags means the Pilots have to buckle down for a weekend on the road
By Nicholas Slepnikoff
Surrounded by a bevy of pink T-shirts in the Chiles Center last Saturday, the Pilots hosted the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Portland's Annual "Pink Zone" game.
The "Pink Zone" game, an initiative from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, began in 2007.
In order to raise breast cancer awareness through women's basketball, the event also brought a season high of 925 fans into the Chiles Center.
Although the Pilots enjoyed an early lead from a contested first half, a Bulldog rally would leave the Pilots 70-58 at the final buzzer. The loss was a tough one for the team.
"We played one of the best teams, and we played the best that we possibly could," sophomore Alexis Gannis said. "The only thing we can take out of it is our effort and hopefully build from there."
Pushing the Pilots back to 4-4 in the conference (15-8 overall), the Pilots suffered from a string of injuries leaving the team and bench less effective. Portland will have to bounce back in order to stay even in the conference.
"Hopefully we'll get some people healthy," Coach Jim Sollars said. "That will help."
Second lead scorer sophomore Natalie Day, one of these injured players, was unable to play for the Pilots due to a strained Achilles tendon.
"Getting Natalie Day back will be a big help to us," Sollars said. "She hasn't played for the last three games."
Sollars has said that Day is a utility player for the squad because she plays a lot of positions for the team.
Even though the Gonzaga team won the tip off, the Pilots did not let them gain too much ground. For the first eight minutes, the Pilots and Bulldogs fought for the lead, until a layup from Gannis gave the team some momentum.
Shooting 50 percent from the paint, 75 percent at the line and 33.3 percent in three point shots, the Pilots managed to secure the early lead in the first half.
The Bulldogs began to bite back after the momentum-changing Pilot drive.
They were unable, however, to secure the lead in the first half. Fighting through Pilot defense and struggling to get rebounds in the first half, the Bulldogs left the court down, with 30 points to Portland's 36.
On the other side the Pilot's exhibited superior first half shooting from sophomore ReZina TecleMarian and senior Laiken Dollente, who scored 12 and 11 points respectively.
This helped the Pilots stay ahead of Gonzaga going into the second half. Also, the Pilots secured twice as many rebounds in the first half (23 to 12 Bulldog).
"I feel that we played really well," TecleMariam said, referring to the first half.
At halftime, a half-court shot challenge brought the fans down onto the court.
Paying one dollar per attempt, all proceeds went to "Relay for Life," continuing in the vein of cancer awareness and prevention.
In the second half, the Pilots had trouble scoring. The team managed to secure 22 points in the second half, to push their total to 58 points for the game. The Pilots struggled, shooting 29 percent from the paint and 12 percent from behind the line.
"They just had a different bench then us," TecleMariam said. "They had the little spark of energy when we were all tired."
The Pilots managed to stay in the game for some time, however, an onslaught of Bulldog scores left the Pilots a deficit from which they would be unable to recover.
Sollars was disappointed of the loss, but not the effort. He pointed out where they could improve.
"I thought our effort was good. We didn't shoot the ball well enough in the second half," Sollars said.
With athletic, tall players, Sollars continued, players have to shoot well against the Bulldogs.
"You really have to shoot 45 percent or better against them or you're not going to beat them," Sollars said. "We beat them on the boards in the first half and then they killed us on the boards in the second."
Bouncing back from recent injuries, the Pilot squad and Sollars are looking forward to upcoming games. On the road this week, the Pilots will play at San Diego on Thursday, Feb. 11 and at Saint Mary's on Saturday, Feb. 13.
In order to defeat the San Diego Torero's (14-9 overall, 6-3 conference), Portland will have to continue with its scoring, averaging 70.5 points per game.
The Torero's will enter the game riding a two-game win streak and will no doubt be fueled by their home crowd.
If the Pilots can outplay University of San Diego's offense, which averages 64.8 points per game, and capitalize on turnovers (17.3 turnovers per game to San Diego's 18.2), the Pilot's superior numbers in both assists and rebounds should be enough to keep Portland on top.
The Saint Mary's Gaels (17-7 overall, 8-1 conference), however, will be the harder team to beat. The Gaels, who will be playing Gonzaga this Thursday, have a six game winning streak.
Unless Gonzaga manages to break this streak, the Pilots will have a lot on their hands. The Gaels superior scoring statistics, coupled with their confidence of six wins (possibly seven), has the potential to give the Moraga, Calif. team confidence and the drive to stay in the top-ranking teams of the WCC.
With a superior 71.4 points per game, Saint Mary's will prove a major opponent for Portland. However, with a high 23.3 turnovers per game, Portland may have a chance in loose ball situations.
Additionally, Portland will have to fight past Saint Mary's blocking due to a high 7.5 blocks per game (to Portland's 3.7).
With healed players and a revitalized bench, Portland will also potentially have more energy to turn this advantage into an opportunity.
