Men's and women's basketball fall in the first round of their respective postseason tourneys last night
By David Thompson
The University of Portland men's and women's basketball team's seasons came to an end Wednesday night after the men suffered a 73-81 loss to the Northern Colorado in the opening round of the CollegeInsiders.com Tournament. The women were dealt a 75-44 loss to the University of Washington Huskies.
It marked the second consecutive year that the both Pilot basketball teams were handed a first round loss in postseason play.
Last season, the Portland men lost to Pacific 82-76 in the opening round of the CIT while the women lost 57-51 to Portland State in the opening round of the women's NIT.
On the men's side Portland played the Bears tight. The Pilots trailed for all but four minutes of the game.
After taking the lead 19-16 on sophomore Jared Stohl's three point field goal, Northern Colorado went on a 16-2 run to grab a 21-32 advantage. Portland responded ending the half only trailing by four.
In the second half, Northern Colorado pushed their lead to four with almost nine minutes remaining.
The Pilots again responded cutting the lead to three following senior Ethan Niedermeyer's three point basket.
In the last four minutes, however, Portland only managed to trade baskets and the Bears went on to win the game.
Senior guard TJ Campbell led the Pilots with 19 points and 10 assists.
The women never really had a chance against the Huskies. Washington jumped out to an 18-4 lead in the first five minutes and were never challenged the rest of the game. Junior center Lauren Angel led the Pilots with 15 points and senior, Laiken Dollente added 11 points and five rebounds.
Both teams were looking for their fortunes to change after a disappointing trip to the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev.
Neither team found lady luck in Sin City and both teams left the tournament before the championship after the women fell 61-74 to Santa Clara in the quarterfinals, and the men lost to eventual champions Saint Mary's, 55-69 in the semi-finals.
The women entered the conference tournament as the four-seed posting a 7-7 mark in conference play.
After Santa Clara upset San Diego Friday, the 1-13 Broncos continued their improbable run with a convincing victory over Portland Saturday afternoon. "They just out-scrapped us," said Portland women's basketball head coach Jim Sollars.
After opening a five-point halftime lead, the Pilots fell flat in the second half only making eight field goals.
The Pilots were outscored by 18 in the half and could not match Santa Clara's intensity on either side of the ball.
Sollars credited Santa Clara's interior defense and their toughness as keys to their victory.
"We had no inside game," he said. "We really needed someone to take control down low. They played harder I felt."
Portland's lone senior, Laiken Dollente, led the Pilots with 26 points. After the game, the three-time All-WCC performer looked back on her career as a Pilot.
"I have no regrets with my time at Portland," Dollente said.
Dollente finished her career on The Bluff as the third most prolific scorer in school history with a total of 1874 points. She also is the all-time school leader in three-point percentage (.404) and is second in total three-pointers made with 211.
The men entered the tournament as the third seed, winning 10 of the past 12 games and 20 overall. The Pilots were looking improve their resume to better help their chances at earning a spot in the NIT, a tournament that invites the best teams not invited to the NCAA tournament.
After beating San Diego, a team that Portland had beaten twice previously, the Pilots squared off against a Saint Mary's team with a lot to prove. In the semi-final against Saint Mary's, Portland shot a season low 28.8 percent from the field, connecting on only 15 of 52 total shots.
"Saint Mary's forced us to go to plan 'B' and were better with plan 'A'," head men's basketball coach Eric Reveno said after the loss.
Saint Mary's defense was so effective that junior Jared Stohl, the nation's leading three-point shooter heading into the tournament, only attempted one three-point shot and four field goals overall. His four points all came from free-throws.
The loss also did not help Portland's quest to get into the NIT, a tournament that Reveno said the team "deserves to be in." Portland's chances at an NIT bid were all but lost as many regular season champions lost in their conference tournament finals.
The NIT automatically invites any regular season conference champion that did not receive an invitation to the NCAA tournament.
The Pilots, however, accepted an invitation to compete in the CIT, a tournament that Portland participated in last season.
"Everyone just wants to keep playing together," said senior forward Ethan Niedermeyer when asked about post-season play. Neidermeyer led the Pilots in their loss to Saint Mary's scoring 12 points.
The loss to Northern Colorado brings to an end the careers of five seniors.
Niedermeyer and Campbell as well as seniors Taishi Ito, Robin Smeulders and Nik Raivio will be remembered for ushering in a new era of Pilot basketball.
