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
2/3/2004 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP:
The league-leading Utah women's basketball team (15-4, 5-0) travels to San Diego, Calif., for a 7 p.m. game this Thursday, Feb. 5, at San Diego State (7-11, 2-3). 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:
Utah (15-4, 5-0) remained unbeaten in Mountain West Conference play and extended its winning streak to five with a 66-62 victory over instate rival Brigham Young. Utah shot 44 percent (25-of-57) from the field on the game, while BYU connected on 23-of-52 of its shots. For just the second time all season, the Utes won a game in which they were out-rebounded. The Cougars won that battle 39 to 26. However, Utah countered that on the turnover front, committing just seven on the game and forcing 16 by BYU. Sophomore All-America candidate Kim Smith led the Utes with 17 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Shona Thorburn added 15 points and three assists, while senior Mandie Little finished with 12 points. Senior point guard Kelsy Stireman had seven points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting. She also added five rebounds and seven assists. Senior Carley Marshall pulled down five boards in the win.
On the season, Utah is led by Smith, who averages 15.8 points and 7.1 rebounds, and Thorburn, who adds 12.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists. As a team, Utah is out-rebounding its opponents 34.6 to 30.9 and outscoring them by 12.4 points per game.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
San Diego State (7-11, 2-3) won its eighth straight game over Air Force, 51-46, last Saturday. Sophomore Ashlee Dunlap, held scoreless for the first time in her career Thursday night, rebounded by tying her career high for points with 23 and adding 12 boards for her MWC-leading 11th double-double of the season and the 21st of her career. Dunlap was helped offensively by Veronica Shaw, who chipped in nine points and a season high six assists before fouling out. Freshman Courtney Fritz also contributed a career-best eight boards, as SDSU set a team season high for rebounds with 47.
The Aztecs have three players this season who average 10 or more points per game, led by Michelle Elliott with 12.9. Dunlap and Fritz add 11.9 and 10.1 points, respectively. Dunlap also pulls down 9.6 rebounds per game. As a team, San Diego State is shooting 39 percent from the field and 32 percent from downtown this season.
SERIES SHORTS:
Utah leads the all-time series with the Aztecs 17-10. The last time the two teams met, on Feb. 20, 2003, Utah won 66-22 in Salt Lake City. The Utes are 11-2 at home, 5-6 away and 1-2 at a neutral site vs. San Diego State.
AP TOP 25 POLL FEB. 2, 2004
Rank School 03-04 Total Last (first-place votes) Record Points Week1. Tennessee (44) 18-1 1,172 1 2. Duke 16-2 1,106 2 3. Texas (3) 19-2 1,083 3 4. Connecticut 16-2 1,025 4 5. Penn State 17-3 987 5 6. Purdue 17-2 959 6 7. Stanford 17-3 856 8 8. Louisiana Tech 15-2 808 9 9. Texas Tech 18-3 776 7 10. Kansas State 15-3 734 12 11. Colorado 17-2 725 11 12. North Carolina 17-3 619 10 13. Minnesota 17-3 611 14 14. LSU 17-3 589 15 15. DePaul 18-2 473 13 16. Georgia 15-5 444 19 17. Baylor 17-4 419 16 18. TCU 16-3 345 21 19. Auburn 16-5 298 22 20. Michigan State 16-4 278 18 21. Virginia Tech 16-4 161 23 22. Miami 16-3 157 17 23. Notre Dame 13-7 137 NR 24. Florida 15-5 133 NR 25. SMS 18-1 57 NR
Others receiving votes: Vanderbilt 55, Houston 54, Oklahoma 39, Utah 37, Arizona 34, Rutgers 23, Boston College 20, Nebraska 14, Villanova 12, West Virginia 10, George Washington 7, Clemson 6, UNLV 4, Montana 3, UT-Chattanooga 2, Iowa 2, Santa Barbara 1.
ESPN/USA TODAY POLL FEB. 3, 2004
Rank School 03-04 Total Last (first-place votes) Record Points Week1. Tennessee (40) 18-1 1000 1 2. Duke 17-2 951 2 3. Connecticut 16-2 908 3 4. Texas 19-2 891 4 5. Purdue 17-2 824 5 6. Penn State 17-3 805 6 7. Stanford 17-3 738 8 8. Louisiana Tech 15-2 684 9 9. Texas Tech 18-3 682 7 10. Colorado 17-2 626 10 11. Kansas State 15-3 595 12 12. Minnesota 17-3 550 13 13. North Carolina 17-3 507 11 14. Georgia 15-5 446 17 15. DePaul 19-2 436 14 16. LSU 17-3 397 15 17. Baylor 17-4 282 19 18. Michigan State 16-4 258 18 19. TCU 16-4 248 20 20. Miami (Fla.) 16-3 195 16 21. Virginia Tech 16-4 190 22 22. Auburn 16-5 182 25 23. Houston 17-3 169 24 24. Oklahoma 13-6 79 21 25. Boston College 14-5 68 23
Others receiving votes: Southwest Missouri State (18-1) 64; Notre Dame (13-7) 60; Vanderbilt (16-4) 29; Florida (15-5) 23; Arizona State (13-6) 18; Chattanooga (18-2) 18; Arizona (16-5) 17; Clemson (15-5) 15; Utah (15-4) 11; Rutgers (12-7) 10; Marquette (16-5) 7; Montana (16-4) 5; Villanova (14-5) 5; Nebraska (14-5) 2; Southern California (11-8) 2; Iowa State (10-8) 1; Mississippi (13-8) 1; St. Joseph's (12-6) 1.
MWC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.UTAH 5 0 1.000 15 4 .789UNLV 4 1 .800 15 3 .833 New Mexico 4 1 .800 12 6 .667 Wyoming 3 2 .600 7 11 .389 San Diego State 2 3 .400 7 11 .389 BYU 1 4 .200 11 8 .579 Colorado State 1 4 .200 10 8 .556 Air Force 0 5 .000 3 15 .167
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 (.404), rebounding defense (30.9), assists (15.3), turnover margin (+2.5), three-point field goal average (7.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2), and ranks second in scoring (66.6), field goal percentage (.451), scoring defense (54.3), third in scoring margin (+12.4), rebounding margin (+3.7) and free throw percentage (.689), and fourth in steals (7.8).
In conference games only, the Utes rank in the top half of every statistical category but blocked shots.
Individually, sophomore Kim Smith ranks third in scoring (15.8), three-point field goal average (1.8) and three-point field goal percentage (.442), fifth in offensive rebounds (2.6), sixth in rebounding (7.1) and field goal percentage (.498), eighth in defensive rebounds (4.5) and 10th in free throw percentage (.683). Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks third in assists (3.6) and assist/turnover ratio (1.5), sixth in three-point field goal average (1.5), seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.358), eighth in scoring (12.2), and 15th in field goal percentage (.393), free throw percentage (.625) and rebounding (5.5). Senior Kelsy Stireman ranks second in steals (2.3), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and eighth in assists (3.2), while senior Carley Marshall is fourth in field goal percentage (.508). Sophomore Julie Wood leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.508) and ranks fourth in three-point field goal average (1.7), while senior Mandie Little is fifth in field goal percentage (.500).
RANKING NATIONALLY:
In NCAA statistics through Feb. 2, Utah ranks third nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.404), fourth in turnovers per game (12.9), ninth in scoring defense (54.3), 10th in personal fouls per game (14.3), 11th in three-point field goal average (7.2), 28th in both won-lost percentage (.789) and scoring margin (12.4) and 30th in field goal percentage (.451).
HOME SWEET HOME:
Utah, 8-0 at home this season, has won 24 games in a row at the Huntsman Center, dating back to the 2001-02 season. That is tied with Western Illinois for the second longest home win streak in the nation behind Texas (30).
Last year, Utah 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 the team fell 79-71 to UNLV.
STEADY SMITH:
Sophomore Kim Smith has reached double digits scoring in 47 of 50 games on her career at Utah. She also has one or more treys in 44 of 50 career games. This season alone, Smith has at least one three-pointer in 16 of 19 games and has pulled down five or more rebounds in 17 of 19 games.
WINNING THE REBOUNDING BATTLE:
Utah has out-rebounded its opponent in all but five games this season (UC Santa Barbara, Fresno State, Oklahoma, Oregon State and Brigham Young), and three of the Utes' four losses came when they were out-rebounded by their opponent.
LIVE BY THE THREE, DIE BY THE THREE:
Utah, which is shooting 40 percent from three-point range this season, has connected on 30 or more percent of its treys in all but three games (UC Santa Barbara, Oklahoma, Weber State) this season, with two of those three games resulting in losses for the Utes. Utah has shot 50 percent or better from downtown seven times this season and won those games by an average of 23.9 points.
UTES PICKED TO WIN MOUNTAIN WEST:
Utah was selected as the unanimous favorite to win the 2003-04 MWC 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.
UTES ON THE RADIO:
All but two of Utah's remaining games this season (Feb. 21 and March 6) 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. Color commentary for Utah home games is done by Utah's all-time leading scorer, Julie Krommenhoek. Utah's 2003-04 road games are called by Chris Tunis, who served as the president of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association from 1999-2001. The Feb. 21 and March 6 games can be heard live on 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 MAKE FIVE TELEVISION APPEARANCES:
Utah will make a school-record five regular-season appearances on television this season. ESPN2 televised the New Mexico at Utah match-up on Jan. 25, and will also broadcast the title game of the MWC Tournament. Fox Sports Net regionally televised Utah's win at CSU on Jan. 17 and will air two other regular-season contests - 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 travel to Las Vegas, Nev., for a 12 p.m (PDT) game at UNLV this Sunday, Feb. 8. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports Net.
Players Mentioned
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Wednesday, March 11
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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