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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Women's Basketball Notes
12/5/2003 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP:
The No. 19/23 Utah women's basketball team (5-1) travels to Norman, Okla. for a 2 p.m. (CDT) game at No. 16/17 Oklahoma (5-0) this Sunday, Dec. 7.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah blistered Gonzaga from three-point range en route to an 88-64 win in the Huntsman Center Thursday night. Utah (5-1) made 11-of-16 shots from long range, with five different players scoring from beyond the arc.
Sophomore Julie Wood wreaked the most havoc on the Bulldogs, draining all four of her three point attempts and scoring 16 points in 16 minutes to lead all scorers. Sophomore All-America candidate Kim Smith turned in another fine performance, scoring 15 points on 6-of-9 field goal shooting and grabbing five rebounds and three steals. Shona Thorburn scored eight points and had eight assists, while Lana Sitterud and Carley Marshall chipped in 12 points apiece. Kelsy Stireman nabbed a team-high four steals.
On the season, the Utes are led by Smith, who averages 17.3 points and 6.7 rebounds. Thorburn adds 13.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, while Stireman adds 3.7 assists and 3.0 steals per game. As a team, the Utes are shooting 49 percent from the field, including 45 percent from downtown. Utah is also out-rebounding opponents 34.3 to 30.0.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Caton Hill led a group of four Sooners in double-digit scoring with 14 points and 10 rebounds in Oklahoma's 85-63 win over Southern Methodist Wednesday night. Leah Rush added 13 points, Maria Villarroel had 12 points and seven rebounds, and Lauren Shoush finished with 10 points. Dionnah Jackson dished out eight assists on the game. Oklahoma shot 50 percent from the field on the game and out-rebounded SMU 49-24.
The Sooners are led this season by Villarroel, who averages 14.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Hill adds 14.2 points per game, and Rush and Jackson average 11.8 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. The Sooners are shooting 39 percent from the field, compared to the 23 percent of their opponents on the year. Oklahoma is also out-rebounding opponents 44-26 this season.
SERIES SHORTS:
Utah trails the all-time series with Oklahoma 0-1. The only time the two teams met, on Dec. 2, 1994, the Sooners won 72-68 in the Dial Classic in Pullman, Wash.
MWC STANDINGS
W L Pct.UTAH 5 1 .833New Mexico 4 1 .800 UNLV 3 1 .750 San Diego State 3 1 .750 BYU 4 2 .667 Colorado State 3 2 .600 Wyoming 0 3 .000 Air Force 0 5 .000
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank in the top half of nearly every statistical category. Utah leads the conference in scoring margin (+16.3), three-point field goal percentage (.445), three-point field goal average (8.2) and assists (17.8), and ranks second in scoring (71.2), field goal percentage (.486), rebounding defense (30.0), turnover margin (+3.7) and assist/turnover ratio (1.32), third in scoring defense (54.8), free throw percentage (.697) and steals (9.7), and fourth in field goal percentage defense (.392).
Individually, sophomore Kim Smith ranks third in scoring (17.3), field goal percentage (.594) and three-point field goal percentage (.545), fourth in three-point field goal average (2.0), ninth in offensive rebounds (2.5), 10th in steals (1.7) and 11th in rebounding (6.7). Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks second in assists (5.0) and defensive rebounds (5.8), third in three-point field goal average (2.2), fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.520), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (3.33), sixth in rebounding (7.3) and 11th in scoring (13.0). Senior Kelsy Stireman leads the league in steals (3.0) and ranks sixth in assists (3.7, while senior Carley Marshall is ninth in field goal percentage (.488) and 12th in free throw percentage (.833). Sophomore Julie Wood is tied for the lead in free throw percentage (1.000) and second in both three-point field goal percentage (.652) and three-point field goal average (2.5). Senior Mandie Little is fifth in field goal percentage (.562) and junior Lana Sitterud is ninth in assist/turnover ratio (2.0). Senior Kim Hemenway is tied for first in free throw percentage (1.000), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.500) and sixth in assist/turnover ratio (3.0).
CLEARING THE BENCH:
In both Tuesday's win over Saint Mary's and Thursday's victory over Gonzaga, all 11 Utes played. On the season, newcomers Camie Allen and Kim Hemenway are averaging 10.2 and 9.0 minutes per game, respectively, while freshmen Shauna Brouillard and Heidi Carlsen are logging 7.0 and 5.0 minutes per game, respectively.
OFFENSIVE SURGE:
Utah's 88 points against Gonzaga on Thursday night was its highest point total since a 91-52 win over Idaho State on Dec. 14 of last season. However, the 64 points by an opponent was the most this year since the season opener against Southeast Missouri State.
DANGEROUS FROM DOWNTOWN:
The Utes are on fire from three-point range over the last four games. Not only did Utah tie the school record for treys (13) in its win over Fresno State, but the Utes are shooting a blistering 56 percent from downtown. Sophomore Julie Wood has hit 71 percent of her shots from beyond the arc, while Kim Smith is shooting 69 percent from three-point range.
DARLING OF THE DISH:
Sophomore Shona Thorburn has dished out 25 assists (including a career-high-tying nine against Western Kentucky) in the last four games for a 6.3 per game average. On the season, Thorburn is averaging 5.0 assists per game.
UTES PICKED TO WIN MOUNTAIN WEST:
The Utah women's basketball team was selected as the unanimous favorite by the league's head coaches and select media to win the 2003-04 Mountain West Conference crown. The Utes received all possible first-place votes to repeat as MWC regular-season champions (coaches cannot vote for their own team). Brigham Young picked up the other first-place vote and edged New Mexico by one point to place second. Colorado State followed the Lobos at fourth place, with UNLV, San Diego State, Wyoming and Air Force rounding out the poll.
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 athletes 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.
HOME SWEET HOME:
The Utes have now won 19 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 2003-04 games will be broadcast on KALL-700 AM in Salt Lake City. 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," a show devoted to Ute sports that airs from 9-10 a.m. weekdays.
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 and has been selected as Utah Sportscaster of the Year seven times.
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 Utah women's basketball home games are available to be seen and heard on the Internet. To get 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:
The Utes host Washington State at 3 p.m. next Saturday, Dec. 13. Last year, Utah defeated the Cougars 85-50 in Pullman, Wash.
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