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
3/5/2004 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 5, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP:
The Utah women's basketball team (21-6, 11-2) closes out the regular season against San Diego State (8-18, 3-10) at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 6, in the Huntsman Center. The game will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.utahutes.com. Because the Utes are tied for first place in the Mountain West Conference with New Mexico, a win Saturday would guarantee at least a share of the regular-season title. The Lobos host fourth-place Colorado State on Saturday afternoon.
As is custom during the last home game of the season, Utah's four seniors - Kim Hemenway, Mandie Little, Carley Marshall and Kelsy Stireman - will be honored prior to the game.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah saw its 27-game home winning streak, which ranked second nationally, come to an end at the hands of UNLV, falling 68-60 in overtime Thursday night. Both teams shot 40 percent from the field on the game. However, Utah was just 6-of-24 (25 percent) from three-point range. The Utes were also out-rebounded 40 to 38 and took 14 fewer free throws than UNLV. Sophomore All-America candidate Kim Smith led Utah with 17 points and 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season. Seniors Carley Marshall and Mandie Little and sophomore Shona Thorburn each added 11 points apiece. Marshall and senior Kelsy Stireman pulled down six boards each. Stireman also dished out seven assists and nabbed three steals on the game.
On the season, Utah is led by Smith, who averages 15.6 points and 7.6 rebounds, and Thorburn, who adds 11.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. As a team, Utah is holding opponents to 54.1 points per game and has an average margin of victory of 11.7 points.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
The Aztecs erased an 11-point second half deficit but were unable to complete the comeback, falling 56-45 at BYU Thursday night. Junior Candace Mattson fell one rebound short of her first double-double with 13 points and team game-high nine rebounds. Freshman Michelle Elliott was the only other Aztec in double-figure scoring, finishing with 13 points.
The Aztecs are led this season by Elliott and Ashlee Dunlap, who average 12.4 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. Dunlap adds a team-high 8.1 rebounds. As a team, SDSU is shooting 38 percent from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc.
SERIES SHORTS:
Utah leads the all-time series with the Aztecs 18-10. The last time the two teams met, on Feb. 5 of this year, Utah won 56-29 in San Diego. The Utes are 11-2 at home, 6-6 away and 1-2 at a neutral site vs. San Diego State.
MWC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.UTAH 11 2 .846 21 6 .778New Mexico 11 2 .846 19 7 .731 UNLV 9 4 .692 20 6 .769 Colorado State 8 5 .615 17 9 .654 BYU 5 8 .385 15 12 .556 Wyoming 5 8 .385 9 17 .346 San Diego State 3 10 .231 8 18 .308 Air Force 0 13 .000 3 23 .115
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes rank in the top half of nearly every statistical category. Utah leads the conference in scoring margin (+11.7), field goal percentage (.449), three-point field goal percentage (.391), rebounding defense (31.0), assist/turnover ratio (1.2), turnover margin (+2.4) and three-point field goal average (7.1), and ranks second in scoring defense (54.1), free throw percentage (.717) and assists (15.1), and third in scoring (65.8), rebounding margin (+3.3) and field goal percentage defense (.392).
In conference games only, the Utes rank in the top half of every statistical category but rebounding, blocked shots, steals and offensive rebounds.
Individually, sophomore Kim Smith ranks fourth in scoring (15.6), rebounding (7.6), offensive rebounds (2.7) and defensive rebounds (4.9), fifth in three-point field goal average (1.6), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.379) and field goal percentage (.500), and seventh in free throw percentage (.700). Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks third in assist/turnover ratio (1.9), fourth in assists (4.0), seventh in three-point field goal average (1.4), 11th in scoring (11.6), 12th in three-point field goal percentage (.339), 13th in rebounding (5.5) and 14th in free throw percentage (.655). Senior Kelsy Stireman ranks third in steals (2.1), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6), tied for fifth in assists (3.5) and 20th in rebounding (4.1), while senior Carley Marshall is seventh in field goal percentage (.482) and 19th in rebounding (4.2). Sophomore Julie Wood leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.487) and ranks eighth in three-point field goal average (1.4), while senior Mandie Little is fifth in field goal percentage (.511). Junior Lana Sitterud is 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.340) and 13th in three-point field goal average (1.3).
LITTLE NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR FEB. 23-29:
Mandie Little was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week for Feb. 23-29, marking her first career award. A 6-0 senior from Independence, Ore., Little scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field in a victory over Brigham Young Saturday. She also grabbed five offensive rebounds which led to six second-chance points for the Utes, and tallied a block and an assist in 28 minutes. Little entered the game averaging 7.3 points per game.
RANKING NATIONALLY:
In NCAA statistics through March 1, Utah ranks second nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.398), third in turnovers per game (12.8), sixth in scoring defense (53.6), seventh in personal fouls per game (14.1), 15th in three-point field goal average (7.1), 20th in won-lost percentage (.808), 24th in scoring margin (12.4) and 25th in field goal percentage (.451).
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 40 percent from three-point range this season, has connected on 30 or more percent of its treys in all but six games (at UC Santa Barbara, at Oklahoma, Weber State, at UNLV, BYU and UNLV) this season, with three of those six 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 four schools nationally (Stanford, Pennsylvania 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 six games and 15 or fewer in 20 of 27 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 (115 of 117), while Smith and Thorburn have started all 58 games since coming to Utah.
2003-04 COMPARED TO 2002-03:
The Utes this season have many similarities to last year's team. With one regular-season game left last year, Utah was 21-5 overall and 11-2 in MWC play, just one game off of the Utes' current record. Scoring is up (65.8 ppg compared to 65.3 ppg last year), but rebounding is down (35.8 rpg last year compared to 34.1 this season).
Utah has taken less three-pointers (489 to 533) and free throws (417 to 446) and has fewer blocks (48 to 69) and steals (192 to 257). However, the Utes have taken more overall shots (1432 to 1425), have a higher field goal percentage (.449 to .413), higher three-point field goal percentage (.391 to .351), have dished out more assists (408 to 363) and have fewer turnovers (347 to 381) this season.
STEADY SMITH:
Sophomore Kim Smith has reached double digits scoring in 54 of 58 games on her career at Utah. She also has one or more treys in 51 of 58 career games. This season alone, Smith has at least one three-pointer in 23 of 27 games and has pulled down five or more rebounds in 25 of 27 games.
THORBURN DOES IT ALL:
Shona Thorburn, who ranks second on the team in scoring and rebounding, has reached double figures scoring 16 times this season and has scored five or more points in 26 of 27 games. The guard also has at least one assist in 26 of 27 games, one three-pointer in 20 of 27 games and five or more rebounds in 16 of 27 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 15 of 27 games. In addition, Marshall has four or more rebounds in 18 games and Little has four or more boards in 14 of 27 games this season.
STIREMAN RUNS THE POINT, DEFENDS WELL:
Senior point guard Kelsy Stireman has at least one steal in 23 of 27 games this season. She grabbed three steals in five games, four steals in four games and nabbed a career-high seven steals against Weber State. She also has three or fewer turnovers in 21 of 27 games and at least one assist in 25 of 27 games.
WOOD DEADLY FROM DOWNTOWN:
Sophomore Julie Wood, the MWC leader in three-point shooting, is a definite threat from long range. Of her 44 baskets this season, 38 are from downtown. Additionally, all five of her double-digit scoring games came when she made three or more three-pointers.
SMITH COULD REACH 1,000 POINTS THIS SEASON:
Forward Kim Smith currently has 420 points on the year. Combined with her 540 from last season, the sophomore currently has 960 career points. At her current pace of 15.6 points per game, Smith needs to play in three more games to surpass the 1,000-point mark, making her the 18th Ute and just the second sophomore ever to reach 1,000 points. Utah is guaranteed two more games and will likely play more than that in the MWC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.
SMITH NAMED MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR FEB. 2-8:
Kim Smith was named MWC Player of the Week for Feb. 2-8, marking her first career award. For the week, she averaged 18 points, 11.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocks, while shooting 52 percent from the field (13-of-25) and 88 percent from the free throw line.
UTES PICKED TO WIN MOUNTAIN WEST:
Utah was selected as the unanimous favorite to win the 2003-04 MWC crown. The Utes received 19 of 20 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 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.
UP NEXT:
The Utes play in the Mountain West Conference Tournament next Wednesday-Saturday, March 10-13, at the Pepsi Center. If Utah ties with New Mexico for first place, the Utes will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament since the tie breaker is performance against the third-place team and Utah split with UNLV, while New Mexico swept the series.
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