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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Women's Basketball Notes
12/1/2003 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP:
The No. 22/23 Utah women's basketball team (3-1) hosts Saint Mary's (3-1) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2, in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah claimed the championship at the Fresno State Classic last weekend, routing Western Kentucky 84-55 in the first round before defeating the host Bulldogs 66-53 in the championship game.
Sophomore All-America candidate Kim Smith was named tournament MVP after averaging 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds over the two games. Sophomores Shona Thorburn and Julie Wood were also named to the all-tournament team. Thorburn averaged 11.0 points, eight rebounds and 7.5 assists, while Wood averaged 14 points on 9-of-12 shooting, all from downtown.
On the season, the Utes are led by Smith, who averages team-highs of 17.8 points and 7.3 rebounds. Thorburn adds 15.0 points and 5.0 assists per game.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Triola Jackson scored 12 points and had nine rebounds to lead Saint Mary's to a 55-44 victory over Weber State in the consolation game of the Hilton Concord Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday. The Gaels lost 64-57 in overtime to the Bradley Braves in the opening round of the tournament on Friday. Saint Mary's was led by freshman forward Eghosa Obaiza as she recorded her first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Saint Mary's is led this season by Jackson, who averages 12.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. As a team, the Gaels are shooting 36 percent from the field and out-rebounding opponents 42-36.5.
SERIES SHORTS:
Utah leads the all-time series with the Gaels 2-0. The last time the two teams met, on Jan. 6, 2000, Utah won 50-48 in Moraga, Calif. The Utes are 1-0 at home and 1-0 away vs. Saint Mary's.
MWC STANDINGS
W L Pct.UTAH 3 1 .750Colorado State 3 1 .750 New Mexico 3 1 .750 UNLV 3 1 .750 BYU 2 2 .500 San Diego State 1 1 .500 Wyoming 0 3 .000 Air Force 0 4 .000
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank in the top half of nearly every statistical category. Utah leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.402), three-point field goal average (8.25) and assists (17.00), and ranks second in field goal percentage (.471), scoring defense (56.2), turnover margin (+4.0) and assist/turnover ratio (0.93), third in scoring (67.5), scoring margin (+11.2) and rebounding defense (32.0), and fourth in steals (9.25).
Individually, sophomore Kim Smith ranks second in scoring (17.8) and three-point field goal average (2.25), fourth in field goal percentage (.562) and three-point field goal percentage (.529), eighth in rebounding (7.2), and ninth in offensive rebounds (2.50) and defensive rebounds (4.75). Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks second in assists (5.0) and three-point field goal average (2.25), third in defensive rebounds (5.75), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (4.00), seventh in both scoring (15.0) and steals (1.75), ninth in rebounding, 12th in three-point field goal percentage (.450) and 14th in field goal percentage (.400). Senior Kelsy Stireman ranks second in steals (2.5) and sixth in assists (4.0), while senior Carley Marshall is 10th in field goal percentage (.464) and 14th in free throw percentage (.800). Sophomore Julie Wood is tied for first in free throw percentage (1.000), and second in both three-point field goal percentage (.643) and three-point field goal average (2.25). Senior Mandie Little is tied for first in free throw percentage (1.000), while senior Kim Hemenway is first in assist/turnover ratio (999.00). Junior Lana Sitterud is seventh in both three-point field goal average (1.5) and assist/turnover ratio (3.0), while freshman Camie Allen is 14th in free throw percentage (.800).
DANGEROUS FROM DOWNTOWN:
The Utes were on fire from three-point range last weekend at the Fresno State Classic. Not only did Utah tie the school record for treys (13) in its win over Fresno State, but the Utes shot a blistering 83 percent from downtown in the second half of the Western Kentucky game. Sophomore Julie Wood hit 75 percent of her shots from beyond the arc, while Kim Smith shot 73 percent from three-point range. On the week, Utah shot 62 percent from downtown, compared to the 27 percent in its first two games.
DARLING OF THE DISH:
Sophomore Shona Thorburn dished out 15 assists (including a career-high-tying nine against Western Kentucky) in the two games of the Fresno State Classic for a 7.5 per game average. On the season, Thorburn is averaging 5.0 assists per game.
SMITH, THORBURN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MWC:
Sophomore Kim Smith has been tabbed as the MWC preseason Player of the Year and sophomore Shona Thorburn was also named to the preseason all-conference team. Smith earned Top Returning Player honors following a freshman campaign that saw her named MWC Player and Newcomer of the Year (a conference first), Kodak honorable mention All-America, and a Freshman All-American by both Full Court Press and womenscollegehoops.com. She is one of 35 players and just three sophomores nationally named to the Wade Trophy preseason watch list.
Thorburn, a second-team all-conference pick last year, ranked sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game. She led Utah in assists (3.3 per game) and minutes played (36.5) last season.
SMITH RECOGNIZED BY ESPN:
Utah sophomore All-America candidate Kim Smith was honored by espn.com as the sixth-best wing in the nation. Wings are classified as "those players who make that pull-up jumper seem easy and slash to the hoop better than just about anybody else."
Listed ahead of Smith were the nation's leading scorer last season, two of the best players in the SEC, the best player in the Pac-10 and one of the top athletes in the Big Ten (Chandi Jones of Houston, Seimone Augustus of LSU, Tan White of Mississippi State, Nicole Powell of Stanford and Shereka Wright of Purdue).
HOME SWEET HOME:
The Utes have now won 17 games in a row at home, dating back to the last three home games of the 2001-02 season. Last year, the Utes went a perfect 13-0 at home. It was the ninth time Utah recorded an undefeated home season in the program's 30 years of existence.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE:
Utah led the nation in scoring defense last season, giving up just 50.6 points per game. It was the third time in four years that the Utes had been the top defensive team in the country. Utah held 13 opponents under 50 points, including three under 40 and one to just 22 points. The Utes only allowed seven opponents to 60 points or more on the year.
UTES ON THE RADIO:
All but three of Utah's games this season will be broadcast on KALL-700 AM. Anchoring the broadcast team is KALL-700 AM Sports Director Brad Stone. In his 14th year with the station, Stone is the host of the Ute men's basketball and football game broadcasts. Stone is also the host of the "Redzone," an hour-long show devoted to Ute sports that airs from 9-10 a.m. Monday-Friday.
Utah's 2003-04 road games will be called by Chris Tunis, who served as the president of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association from 1999-2001. Tunis has been selected as Utah Sportscaster of the Year seven times by his peers.
The three games that won't be on KALL are Dec. 16, Feb. 21 and March 6. However, those three games will be broadcast via the Internet at www.utahutes.com.
INTERNET AUDIO/VIDEO BROADCASTS:
All regular-season Utah women's basketball home games will be available to be seen and heard on the Internet. To get to the game broadcasts, go to http://155.99.112.235/wbball/ or go to the women's basketball page at www.utahutes.com and click on "Watch/Listen to Utah Home Games Live."
To watch/listen to the broadcasts, you are encouraged to a have high speed internet connection. You will also need to have QuickTime Player installed on your computer. QuickTime Player is free software available at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/. Although this is an Apple product, it can be loaded onto both Apple and PC machines.
UTES TO MAKE FIVE TELEVISION APPEARANCES:
Utah will make a school-record five regular-season appearances on television this season. ESPN2 will televise the New Mexico at Utah matchup on Jan. 25, along with the title game of the conference tournament. Fox Sports Net will regionally televise three regular-season contests, including Utah at Colorado State (Jan. 17), Utah at UNLV (Feb. 8) and BYU at Utah (Feb. 28). MWC women's basketball will make its debut on College Sports Television (CSTV) when New Mexico hosts Utah on Feb. 19. CSTV will also televise the MWC Tournament semifinal games on March 12.
UP NEXT:
Utah hosts Gonzaga at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at the Huntsman Center.
Players Mentioned
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