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
3/11/2004 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 11, 2004
DENVER, Colo. -
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COMING UP:
No. 2-seed Utah (23-6) faces No. 3-seed UNLV (22-6) in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Friday, March 12, at the Pepsi Center. The game will be televised nationally on College Sports Television (CSTV) and live in Salt Lake on Channel 9. The game will be broadcast live on KALL-700 AM and on the Internet at www.utahutes.com.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Sophomore All-America candidate Kim Smith notched her eighth double-double of the season as Utah defeated San Diego State 68-51 in the quarterfinals of the MWC Tournament Wednesday evening. Utah shot 44 percent from the field and 33 percent from downtown on the game, while San Diego State combined for 43 percent from the field and 38 percent from beyond the arc. The Utes more than doubled the Aztecs in rebounds, 41 to 19. Smith led Utah with a season-high 28 points and 11 rebounds. She also added one block, one steal and one assist. Sophomore Shona Thorburn and Senior Carley Marshall added 11 points apiece. Thorburn also pulled down seven boards and dished out five assists. Senior Kelsy Stireman finished with five assists and two steals, while senior Mandie Little had seven points, six rebounds and two assists.
On the season, Utah is led by Smith, who averages 15.8 points and 7.7 rebounds, and Thorburn, who adds 11.6 points, 5.4 boards and 4.1 assists per game. As a team, Utah is holding opponents to 53.9 points per game and has an average margin of victory of 11.9 points.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Kameca Simmons came off the bench with a career-high-tying 17 points, and RanDee Henry's offensive rebound and lay-up with 14 seconds lifted UNLV to a 60-57 victory over Brigham Young in the first round of the MWC Tournament Wednesday. BYU fell despite shooting 68 percent and outscoring UNLV 35-31 in the second half. Henry added 15 points and eight rebounds, Sheena Moore had 12 points, and Sherry McCracklin added 10. UNLV shot 44 percent for the game and held a 34 to 30 rebounding edge, though they turned the ball over 20 times.
The Lady Rebels are led by Moore, Henry and McCracklin, who average 18.4, 15.9 and 13.9 points per game, respectively. McCracklin adds a team-high 10.0 rebounds per game, while Henry averages 8.2 boards. As a team, UNLV is shooting 45 percent from the field and out-rebounding opponents 40.8 to 32.3.
SERIES SHORTS:
Utah leads the all-time series with the Lady Rebels 15-11. The last time the two teams met, on March 4 of this year, UNLV won 88-80 in overtime in Salt Lake City, ending Utah's 27-game home winning streak. The Utes are 8-3 at home, 7-7 away and 0-1 at a neutral site vs. San Diego State.
QUOTING ELLIOTT:
"We're looking forward to this game. We like the emotional edge that playing someone that recently beat you gives a team."
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank in the top half of nearly every statistical category. Utah leads the conference in scoring margin (+11.9), field goal percentage (.448), three-point field goal percentage (.385), rebounding defense (30.4), assists (15.3), assist/turnover ratio (1.2) and turnover margin (+2.6), and ranks second in scoring defense (53.9), free throw percentage (.714) and three-point field goal average (6.9), third in scoring (65.8) and rebounding margin (+3.9), and fourth in field goal percentage defense (.395).
In conference games only, the Utes rank in the top half of every statistical category but rebounding, three-point field goal percentage defense, blocked shots, steals and offensive rebounds.
Individually, sophomore Kim Smith ranks second in defensive rebounds (4.9), third in rebounding (7.7), fourth in scoring (15.8) and three-point field goal percentage (.388), fifth in defensive rebounds (2.7) and three-point field goal average (1.6), seventh in field goal percentage (.503) and 10th in free throw percentage (.697). Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks third in assist/turnover ratio (2.0), fourth in assists (4.1), seventh in three-point field goal average (1.5), ninth in three-point field goal percentage (.341), 11th in scoring (11.6) and 14th in rebounding (5.4). Senior Kelsy Stireman ranks second in steals (2.2), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and sixth in assists (3.5), while senior Carley Marshall is eighth in field goal percentage (.477). Sophomore Julie Wood leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.469) and ranks 12th in three-point field goal average (1.3), while senior Mandie Little is sixth in field goal percentage (.505), 10th in offensive rebounds (2.0) and 18th in rebounding (4.3). Junior Lana Sitterud is 11th in three-point field goal percentage (.321) and 14th in three-point field goal average (1.2).
SMITH SHOULD REACH 1,000 POINTS VS. UNLV:
Forward Kim Smith currently has 458 points on the year. Combined with her 540 from last season, the sophomore currently has 998 career points. With two more points, she will reach the 1,000-point mark, making her the 18th Ute and just the second sophomore ever to reach 1,000 points.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES:
Utah sophomore Kim Smith was named MWC Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, sophomore Shona Thorburn was a second-team All-MWC pick for the second consecutive season and senior Kelsy Stireman was named to the third-team. Senior Carley Marshall was named honorable mention.
RANKING NATIONALLY:
In NCAA statistics through March 8, Utah ranks third nationally in turnovers per game (12.8), fifth in both three-point field goal percentage (.386) and scoring defense (54.0), seventh in personal fouls per game (14.1), 21st in won-lost percentage (.786), 22nd in three-point field goal average (6.9), 26th in scoring margin (11.7) and 28th in field goal percentage (.449).
WINNING THE REBOUNDING BATTLE:
Utah has out-rebounded its opponent in all but eight games this season (UC Santa Barbara, Fresno State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Brigham Young, Colorado State, Wyoming and UNLV), and four of the Utes' six losses came when they were out-rebounded by their opponent.
LIVE BY THE THREE, DIE BY THE THREE:
Utah, which is shooting 39 percent from three-point range this season, has connected on 30 or more percent of its treys in all but seven games this season, with three of those seven games resulting in losses for the Utes. Utah has shot 50 percent or better from downtown nine times this season and won those games by an average of 21.0 points. In addition, Utah is one of just five schools nationally (Stanford, Pennsylvania, Iowa State and Idaho are the others) to have four players with 30 or more three-pointers on the season.
TAKING CARE OF THE BALL:
Utah, which currently ranks third nationally in turnovers per game, has only committed more turnovers than its opponent on six occasions this season. The Utes have committed 10 or fewer turnovers in seven games and 15 or fewer in 22 of 29 games this season.
CONSISTENCY IN THE STARTING LINEUP:
Utah is the only team in the Mountain West Conference to have the same five players start every game this season. The Utes start three seniors - Mandie Little, Carley Marshall and Kelsy Stireman - and two sophomores - Kim Smith and Shona Thorburn. Stireman has started all but two games on her career (117 of 119), while Smith and Thorburn have started all 60 games since coming to Utah.
STEADY SMITH:
Sophomore Kim Smith has reached double digits scoring in 56 of 60 games on her career at Utah. She also has one or more treys in 52 of 60 career games. This season alone, Smith has at least one three-pointer in 24 of 29 games and has pulled down five or more rebounds in 27 of 29 games.
THORBURN DOES IT ALL:
Shona Thorburn, who ranks second on the team in scoring and rebounding, has reached double figures scoring 18 times this season and has scored five or more points in 28 of 29 games. The guard also has at least one assist in 28 of 29 games, one three-pointer in 22 of 29 games and five or more rebounds in 17 of 29 games.
MARSHALL AND LITTLE DEPENDABLE INSIDE:
Senior post players Mandie Little and Carley Marshall have come up big for the Utes this season. Marshall has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 16 games, while Little has done the same in 16 of 29 games. In addition, Marshall has four or more rebounds in 18 games and Little has four or more boards in 16 of 29 games this season.
STIREMAN RUNS THE POINT, DEFENDS WELL:
Senior point guard Kelsy Stireman has at least one steal in 25 of 29 games this season. She grabbed three steals in five games, four steals in four games and nabbed a career-high seven steals against both Weber State and San Diego State. She also has three or fewer turnovers in 22 of 29 games and at least one assist in 27 of 29 games.
UP NEXT:
If the Utes defeat UNLV, they will play in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 13, at the Pepsi Center.
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