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
1/7/2004 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP:
The No. 24 Utah women's basketball team (10-3) closes out non-conference play in Missoula, Mont., with a 7:30 p.m. game at Montana (10-4) this Saturday, Jan. 10. The game will be broadcast live on KALL-700 AM in Salt Lake City and on the Internet at www.utahutes.com
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Sophomore All-America candidate Kim Smith had her first double-double of the season and six Utes reached double figures scoring as Utah came from behind in the second half for an exciting 86-78 victory at Idaho State on Monday. Utah shot 48 percent from the field on the game, including 45 percent from downtown. Utah pulled down 36 rebounds on the game, while the Bengals had 35. Both teams committed seven turnovers on the game. Smith finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds for her fourth career double-double. Sophomore Shona Thorburn led the Utes in scoring with 18 points, while senior Carley Marshall and sophomore Julie Wood had 11 each and seniors Kelsy Stireman and Mandie Little added 10 apiece. Little and Thorburn also pulled down six rebounds each, while Thorburn and Stireman dished out five assists apiece.
On the season, Utah is led by Smith, who averages 16.7 points and 6.8 rebounds, and Thorburn, who adds 13.2 points, 6.0 boards and 4.2 assists. The Utes are outscoring opponents 68.9 to 56.4 and out-rebounding them 34.5 to 30.5. As a team, Utah is shooting 47 percent from the field and 43 percent from downtown on the year.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Montana suffered its second straight road loss, falling 60-45 at Colorado State Tuesday night. Senior Julie Deming finished with 12 points, followed by junior Hollie Tyler with 10. Sophomore Jody McLeod had a team-high seven rebounds and Brooklynn Lorenzen had six assists and two steals. The Lady Griz shot 37 percent from the field on the game and committed 18 turnovers. Colorado State had a 40-31 advantage on the boards.
On the season, Tyler, Deming and Katie Edwards are averaging 10 or more points with 13.9, 13.6 and 10.0 averages, respectively. Tyler pulls down a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game, while Lorenzen dishes out 6.7 assists per game. The Lady Griz are shooting 40 percent from the field on the season and holding opponents to 36 percent.
SERIES SHORTS:
Utah trails the all-time series against the Grizzlies 8-11. The last time the two teams met, on Jan. 9, 2003, Utah won 77-38 at home. The Utes are 6-3 at home, 2-7 away and 0-1 at a neutral site vs. Montana.
ESPN/USA TODAY POLL JAN. 6, 2004
Rank School 03-04 Total Last (first-place votes) Record Points Week1. Texas Tech (27) 14-0 976 2 2. Duke (10) 11-1 948 4 3. Texas (2) 12-1 916 3 4. Connecticut (1) 9-1 911 1 5. Tennessee 10-1 817 5 6. Minnesota 12-0 803 6 7. Stanford 11-2 738 7 8. Penn State 9-3 643 9 9. Georgia 11-2 612 11 10. Louisiana Tech 8-2 606 10 11. Purdue 10-2 598 8 12. Kansas State 9-2 560 12 13. North Carolina 12-1 531 14 14. Colorado 11-1 495 13 15. Virginia Tech 12-0 472 15 16. Oklahoma 10-1 409 16 17. LSU 12-2 340 18 18. Boston College 11-1 295 20 19. TCU 10-2 265 19 20. Ohio State 9-3 215 17 21. DePaul 12-1 206 21 22. Vanderbilt 12-1 129 23 23. Michigan State 10-2 119 22 24. Utah 10-3 61 24 25. Miami (Fla.) 12-0 53 NR
Others receiving votes: Arizona (11-3) 52; Auburn (12-2) 52; Baylor (12-1) 50; Houston (8-2) 40; Rutgers (7-4) 24; UC Santa Barbara (8-4) 18; Clemson (11-2) 12; Southern Mississippi (11-1) 8; Southwest Missouri State (9-1) 7; Villanova (10-2) 6; Iowa State (7-4) 3; Washington (8-5) 3; Oregon (8-6) 2; South Alabama (11-1) 2; George Washington (8-4) 1; Notre Dame (7-5) 1; Oregon State (8-4) 1.
AP TOP 25 POLL JAN. 5, 2004
Rank School 03-04 Total Last (first-place votes) Record Points Week1. Duke (20) 10-1 1,104 4 2. Texas Tech (20) 14-0 1,091 2 3. Texas (6) 12-1 1,063 3 4. Connecticut 9-1 1,053 1 5. Tennessee 10-1 972 5 6. Minnesota 12-0 897 6 7. Stanford 11-2 812 9 8. Louisiana Tech 8-1 805 8 9. Penn State 9-3 747 10 10. Purdue 10-2 703 7 11. Kansas State 9-2 664 11 12. Georgia 11-2 649 12 13. North Carolina 12-1 647 14 14. Colorado 11-1 554 13 15. Oklahoma 10-1 503 15 16. Virginia Tech 12-0 470 16 17. LSU 12-2 442 17 18. DePaul 12-1 290 20 19. TCU 10-2 223 19 20. Boston College 11-1 217 22 21. Auburn 12-2 214 21 22. Ohio State 9-3 176 18 23. Michigan State 10-2 114 23 24. Baylor 12-1 97 NR 24. Miami 12-0 97 NR
Others receiving votes: Utah 84, Vanderbilt 79, Rutgers 63, Arizona 22, Oregon 19, Villanova 15, George Washington 14, Clemson 9, UC Santa Barbara 9, Virginia 7, SMS 6, Florida 5, Nebraska 5, Washington 4, Notre Dame 3, Idaho 1, Montana 1.
MWC STANDINGS
W L Pct.UNLV 10 2 .833UTAH 10 3 .769 BYU 8 4 .667 Colorado State 8 4 .667 New Mexico 7 5 .583 Wyoming 4 7 .364 San Diego State 4 8 .333 Air Force 3 8 .273
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank in the top half of nearly every statistical category. Utah leads the conference in field goal percentage (.473), three-point field goal percentage (.428), rebounding defense (30.5), assists (15.6) and three-point field goal average (6.9), and ranks second in scoring (66.9), scoring margin (+12.5), rebounding margin (+4.0), scoring defense (56.4), free throw percentage (.688), turnover margin (+2.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2).
Individually, sophomore Kim Smith ranks second in field goal percentage (.542) and three-point field goal percentage (.490), third in scoring (16.7), fourth in three-point field goal average (1.9), eighth in offensive rebounds (2.5), and 10th in rebounding (6.8) and defensive rebounds (4.3). Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks second in assists (4.2), third in assist/turnover ratio (1.7), fifth in three-point field goal average (1.7), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.415), seventh in scoring (13.2), eighth in defensive rebounds (4.5), 12th in free throw percentage (.630), and 13th in both rebounding (6.0) and field goal percentage (.423). Senior Kelsy Stireman ranks second in steals (2.4) and ninth in assists (2.9), while senior Carley Marshall is fourth in field goal percentage (.517). Sophomore Julie Wood leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.568) and ranks seventh in three-point field goal average (1.6). Senior Mandie Little is fifth in field goal percentage (.511) and eighth in offensive rebounds (2.5).
SEASON HIGHS/LOWS IN POCATELLO:
Utah's win at Idaho State on Monday contained several offensive highs for both the Utes and for a Utah opponent. Utah's 86 points was its second highest point total of the season, behind the 88 the Utes scored at home against Gonzaga. Utah was 29-of-61 from the field on the game. The 29 made shots were the second highest of the season, while the 61 attempts were a season high. The Utes were 19-of-26 from the charity stripe, both topped the season marks. In addition, Idaho State's 78 points was the most allowed by the Utes this season, as were the 32 field goals made and 68 field goals attempted by the Bengals.
Both teams committed just seven turnovers on the game, a season low for the Utes and for a Utah opponent. Additionally, Utah's two steals and Idaho State's one were both season lows.
HOME SWEET HOME:
Utah, 6-0 at home this season, has now won 22 games in a row at home, dating back to 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. The Utes' last home loss came on Jan. 31, 2002, when Utah fell 79-71 to UNLV.
RANKING NATIONALLY:
In NCAA statistics through Jan. 5, Utah ranks second nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.426), 15th in turnovers per game (14.2), 16th in scoring defense (54.6), 19th in field goal percentage (.473) and 29th in personal fouls per game (15.2).
LIVE BY THE THREE, DIE BY THE THREE:
In the Utes' last three games, the team has shot 57 percent from three-point range. As a result, Utah won those games by 27, 24 and eight points, respectively, overcoming hot first-half shooting by Idaho State in the third game to seal the win. In the Utes' win over Weber State on Dec. 20, Utah was 0-for-10 from three-point range. Though Utah still managed to win the game, it ended a streak of 184 games with a trey for the Utes. Coincidentally, the last time Utah failed to make a shot from downtown was in its season opener on Nov. 21, 1997, also against Weber State.
WINNING THE REBOUNDING BATTLE:
Utah has out-rebounded its opponent in all but four games this season (UC Santa Barbara, Fresno State, Oklahoma and Oregon State). All three of the Utes' losses this season came when they were out-rebounded by their opponent.
TURNOVER TERRITORY:
In Utah's game at Northern Arizona, the two teams combined for a total of 45 turnovers on the game. Utah's 23 and the Lumberjacks' 22 turnovers in the game were the most on the season for both the Utes and for a Utah opponent.
DEFENSIVE HIGHS AND LOWS:
On Dec. 20, Utah held Weber State to 38 points, the lowest scoring total by an opponent all season. The Utes also had 15 steals, four blocks and forced 21 Wildcat turnovers.
However, in the Utes' Dec. 16 loss at Oregon State, the Beavers shot a blistering 63 percent from the field on the game. The last time Utah allowed an opponent to shoot 60 percent or higher was Jan. 23, 1992, when Creighton connected on 32-of-52 from the field for a 62 percent field goal percentage.
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).
SMITH, THORBURN NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MWC:
Sophomore Kim Smith was 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."
UTES ON THE RADIO:
All but two of Utah's remaining games this season 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," an hour-long show devoted to Ute sports that airs from 9-10 a.m. Monday-Friday. Color commentary for Utah home games is done by Utah's all-time leading scorer, Julie Krommenhoek.
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 two games that won't be on KALL are 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 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 match-up 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 open conference play on the road next week. Utah faces Wyoming at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 15, where the team will face former associate head coach Joe Legerski, now the head coach at Wyoming. On Saturday, Jan. 17, the Utes play at Colorado State at noon. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain.
Players Mentioned
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Wednesday, March 04
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Sunday, March 01