Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Eastern Kentucky on March 19, 2026 , Loss , 58, to, 72
Final Score
Women's Basketball
58
at Eastern Kentucky
72
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Women's Basketball Notes
3/13/2003 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 13, 2003
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -
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COMING UP:
The No. 1-seed Utes (23-5) face Brigham Young (18-10) in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament at 1 p.m. (MST) tomorrow, March 14, at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
In the first round of the MWC women's basketball tournament in Las Vegas, Nev., Utah easily defeated Air Force 83-46 yesterday. Utah connected on 29-of-62 shots from the field (47 percent) and out-rebounded the Falcons 37-26, including 18-7 on the offensive end. Utah also forced 23 Air Force turnovers, and committed a season-low eight of its own.
Freshman Kim Smith, the MWC Player and Newcomer of the Year, led all scorers with 19 points. She is now just 26 points away from the Utah freshman scoring record. Junior Mandie Little recorded her first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Shona Thorburn added 11 points and a game-high five steals, while freshman Julie Wood finished with 10 points.
Air Force made eight of its first 12 shots in the first half, while the Utes were 5-of-13. Then, after five ties, Utah used a 19-0 run to jump ahead and took a 16-point lead (38-22 ) into the locker room at halftime. In the second half, the Utes scored the first six points and never looked back. Utah nearly doubled the Falcons in points (45-24) and forced 14 Air Force turnovers.
On the season, the Utes are led by Smith, who averages 17.1 points and 6.4 rebounds. Thorburn adds 14.5 points and a team-high 3.2 assists, while junior Carley Marshall averages 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Erin Thorn's three-pointer in overtime gave BYU a 66-64 win against UNLV in the first round of the MWC Tournament yesterday. After stealing the ball with 20 seconds left, Thorn caught Kestlee Nelson's missed three-pointer and threw up a shot that rattled in with 2.8 seconds on the clock. The Lady Rebels didn't get a shot off before the time ran out, giving the Cougars the win.
Thorn finished with 34 points, surpassing the 2,000 career points mark. She has scored in double figures 25 of the 27 games she's played in this year. Thorn also contributed with six assists and two steals. Daniel Cheesman scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
SERIES SHORTS:
* Utah owns a 49-27 all-time record vs. the Cougars, including two wins earlier this season. The Utes are 26-7 at home, 16-14 away and 7-6 at a neutral site against BYU. In previous MWC tournaments, Utah holds a 1-1 record vs. the Cougars.
ALL-MWC SELECTIONS Freshman Kim Smith was recently named both the Mountain West Conference Player and Newcomer of the Year. It is the first time in the history of the conference that the same player has received both honors.
In addition, sophomore Shona Thorburn was named to the second-team, junior Carley Marshall received honorable mention recognition and Head Coach Elaine Elliott was named Coach of the Year. It is the third time in four years that Elliott has received the award.
The team leader in seven statistical categories (including scoring and rebounding), Smith is the only player in the conference to reach double figures scoring in every game with a MWC-record 28 straight.
Smith is the MWC freshman scoring leader with 478 points, and ranks second on the Utah freshman scoring list, 27 points away from first place. She currently ranks ninth nationally in three-point field goal percentage and has three double-doubles on the season, including one in the first half vs. Montana.
Thorburn, Utah's only MWC Player of the Week honoree this season, has started all 28 games. She leads the team in assists and free throw percentage and ranks second in scoring and three-point field goals made. In conference play, she ranks in the top 10 in six statistical categories, including scoring and assists.
Thorburn was named to the all-tournament team at the Montana Tournament, where she averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. She has scored 10 or more points in 20 games and has reached 20 or more points five times.
Marshall is one of three Utes to start all 28 games. She leads the team in blocks, ranks second in rebounding and third in scoring. At the conference level, she ranks fifth in blocks, sixth in free throw percentage and rebounding, seventh in defensive rebounds, 10th in field goal percentage, 11th in offensive rebounds and 17th in scoring.
Marshall scored in double figures 15 times and posted two double-doubles on the season. She was named to the all-tournament team at the Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic after averaging eight points, five boards and two blocks in the two games. She scored a career-high 21 points vs. Idaho State on Dec. 14, and has been perfect from the free throw line 12 times this season.
Elliott, in her 20th year at Utah, owns a 412-169 (.709) career record and earlier this year became just the 38th Division I women's basketball coach to win 400 games. She led the Utes, who were picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll after returning just one starter from the 2001-02 squad, to the MWC regular-season title with two games remaining. This is her 10th regular-season conference championship and 14th 20-win season.
MWC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.UTAH 12 2 .857 23 5 .821New Mexico 9 5 .643 20 8 .714 Colorado State 8 6 .571 18 11 .621 UNLV* 8 6 .571 17 11 .607 BYU 8 6 .571 18 10 .643 Wyoming* 7 7 .500 17 11 .607 San Diego State* 3 11 .214 9 18 .333 Air Force* 1 13 .071 7 21 .250
* Eliminated from MWC Tournament
MARCH 11, 2003 USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES POLL
Rank School 02-03 Total Last (1st-place Votes) Record Points Week1 Connecticut (40) 30-0 1,000 1 2 Duke 30-1 957 2 3 LSU 27-3 910 5 4 Tennessee 28-4 864 3 5 Kansas State 27-3 798 4 6 Louisiana Tech 26-2 759 6 7 Texas 22-5 758 7 8 Stanford 25-4 695 8 9 Texas Tech 24-4 675 10 10 North Carolina 27-4 607 9 11 Purdue 25-5 587 12 12 Mississippi State 23-7 554 11 13 South Carolina 22-7 443 13 14 Villanova 23-5 409 18 15 Vanderbilt 21-9 392 16 16 Penn State 24-8 386 15 17 Santa Barbara 23-4 384 17 18 Minnesota 23-5 340 14 19 Georgia 19-9 233 19 20 Arkansas 21-10 218 21 21 Wisconsin-Green Bay 27-3 217 22 22 Arizona 22-7 173 24 23 Rutgers 20-7 116 20 24 Ohio State 20-8 92 NR 25 Liberty 26-3 77 NR
Others receiving votes: Boston College 72, George Washington 62, Utah 53, UT-Chattanooga 29, Colorado 21, TCU 18, Pepperdine 14, Austin Peay 11, Virginia Tech 9, Western Kentucky 9, Georgia Tech 8, Washington 7, Manhattan 6, Western Michigan 6, Tulane 5, Virginia 5, Harvard 4, Oklahoma 4, Holy Cross 3, Maine 3, Notre Dame 3, Cincinnati 2, DePaul 1, Indiana State 1.
MARCH 10, 2003 ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
Rank School 02-03 Total Last (1st-place Votes) Record Points Week1 Connecticut (44) 30-0 1,100 1 2 Duke 30-1 1,052 2 3 LSU 27-3 1,001 6 4 Tennessee 28-4 934 3 5 Texas 22-5 928 5 6 Louisiana Tech 26-2 843 6 7 Kansas State 27-3 832 4 8 Texas Tech 24-4 824 8 9 Stanford 25-4 728 9 10 Purdue 25-5 679 12 11 North Carolina 27-4 668 11 12 Mississippi State 23-7 665 10 13 Vanderbilt 21-9 483 15 14 Penn State 24-8 424 14 15 Minnesota 23-5 422 13 16 South Carolina 22-7 407 16 17 UC Santa Barbara 23-4 386 19 18 Villanova 23-5 369 20 19 Georgia 19-9 284 17 20 Wisconsin-Green Bay 27-3 260 21 21 Arizona 22-7 252 22 22 Ohio State 21-8 181 - 23 Rutgers 20-7 139 18 24 Arkansas 21-10 126 23 25 Boston College 20-8 63 24
Others receiving votes: George Washington 55, Utah 38, Colorado 32, Washington 24, TCU 21, DePaul 18, Virginia Tech 16, Austin Peay 13, Cincinnati 12, Liberty 9, Chattanooga 5, New Mexico 3, Maine 1, Manhattan 1, Oklahoma 1, St. Francis (Pa.) 1.
MWC PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
Rank Team (first-place votes) Points1 BYU (8) 110 2 Colorado State (7) 103 3 New Mexico (1) 91 4 Utah 70 5 UNLV 69 6 Wyoming 49 7 San Diego State 31 8 Air Force 17
NEW MWC FRESHMAN SCORING LEADER:
In Utah's win over UNLV on Feb. 22, freshman Kim Smith became the Mountain West Conference freshman scoring leader. She now has 478 points on the season. Smith, who leads the team in scoring, rebounding, field goals made, three-point field goals made, free throws made, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage, is the only player in the conference to score double figures in every game with a MWC-record 28 straight.
RANKING NATIONALLY:
Utah, currently ranked 24th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) RPI, leads the nation in scoring defense, and ranks 13th in scoring margin and 19th in average margin of victory. Individually, freshman Kim Smith ranks ninth nationally in three-point field goal percentage in statistics through March 10.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE:
Utah has held all but four of its opponents this season under 60 points. The Utes, who are shooting 41 percent from the field this season, have only allowed seven opponents (New Mexico State, Mississippi State, Weber State, New Mexico, Wyoming, Brigham Young and Air Force) to reach that mark.
HOME SWEET HOME:
The Utes, which boasted a perfect 13-0 record at home this season, have the longest home winning streak in the Mountain West at 16 straight. The last time Utah lost in the Huntsman Center was Jan. 31, 2002, when the team fell to UNLV 79-71.
THORBURN MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK JAN. 12-18:
Sophomore Shona Thorburn was named MWC Player of the Week for Jan. 12-18, marking her first career award. A 5-10 guard from Hamilton, Ontario (Westdale HS), Thorburn recorded a career-high 29 points in a 73-50 victory over Colorado State last Saturday, including 7-of-15 from three-point range. She also grabbed four rebounds and four steals vs. the Rams. Thorburn scored a game-high 19 points in the 63-47 conference opening win over Wyoming, while connecting on 6-of-9 field goals. For the week, Thorburn averaged 24 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field (15-of-30) and 42 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-19).
ELLIOTT JOINS 400-WIN CLUB:
Head Coach Elaine Elliott became just the 38th Division I women's basketball coach to reach 400 career victories with a win over Wyoming on Jan. 16. Elliott has averaged better than 20 wins a year in her 20 seasons.
UP NEXT:
Should the Utes defeat Brigham Young on Friday, they will face the winner of the Colorado State/New Mexico game at 4:30 p.m. (MST) on Saturday, March 15.
Players Mentioned
Utah: 66, Cincinnati: 73 | Big 12 Tournament | Utah Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Wednesday, March 11
Utah: 75, Baylor: 101 | Utah Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, March 08
Utah: 78, Colorado: 92 | Utah Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Wednesday, March 04
Utah: 81, Colorado: 67 | Women's Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, March 01