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
AP: DePaul-Utah Preview
3/21/2003 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 21, 2003
GAME: No. 9 DePaul (22-9) vs. No. 8 Utah (23-6)
REGIONAL: Midwest, first round.
TIME: Sunday, 12:18 p.m. EST.
SITE: Reynolds Coliseum; Raleigh, N.C.
Utah is in the NCAA tournament for the seventh time in nine years. DePaul is returning for the first time since 1997.
That does not mean the Utes have more NCAA tourney experience than the Blue Demons heading into their first-round game in the Midwest Regional.
Utah, making its 12th tournament appearance overall, reached the regional semifinals for the first time two years ago in its most recent trip before losing to eventual national champion Notre Dame.
Guard Kelsy Stireman, however, is the only current Utes player that participated in that tournament. Fellow juniors Carley Marshall and Sarah Wobbe were on the team, but both redshirted due to injuries.
Two DePaul players have previously appeared in the NCAA tournament, but not for the Blue Demons. Ashley Luke played in four games in two seasons at Penn State, while Charlene Smith appeared in one game as a freshman at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Both teams are fairly young, with the top players for both being freshmen and sophomores.
Freshman forward Kim Smith averaged a team-high 17.0 points and 6.6 rebounds for Utah, becoming the first Mountain West Conference player to win the league's player and newcomer of the year honors.
Sophomore Shona Thorburn adds 14.5 points and a team-high 3.2 assists, while Marshall averages 10.1 points and 6.1 rebounds.
The Blue Demons counter with sophomore Jenni Dant and freshman Khara Smith.
While Dant led the team with 14.5 points per game, Smith averaged 13.4 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds to become the first DePaul player to earn the league's freshman of the year honors.
Utah won the Mountain West's regular season title with a 12-2 mark, but lost to Brigham Young in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
The Utes led the nation in scoring defense, giving up just 50.1 points per game. They limited the opposition to 37 percent shooting and had an average margin of victory of 15.7 points.
DePaul is coming off its third undefeated home season in the program's 29-year history. However, the Blue Demons were 5-7 as a visiting team, and 3-2 on neutral courts.
For the second time in three years, the Blue Demons were eliminated by Cincinnati in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament, 81-64 this time.
The Blue Demons averaged 71.8 points on 45 percent shooting.
These teams have never faced each other. The winner will play either Duke or Georgia State in the second round on Tuesday.
PROBABLE STARTERS: DePaul - F Dant, F Sarah Kustok, C Laura Sobieszczyk, G Jamie Smith, G Luke. Utah - F Kim Smith, F Marshall, C Mandy Little, G Stireman, G Thorburn.
TEAM LEADERS: DePaul - Dant, 14.5 ppg; Khara Smith, 8.1 rpg; Charlene Smith, Luke, 2.7 apg. Utah - Kim Smith, 16.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg; Thorburn, 3.2 apg.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: DePaul - At-large berth, Conference USA. Utah - At-large berth, Mountain West Conference.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: DePaul - 3-7, 7 years. Utah - 3-11, 11 years.
Players Mentioned
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