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 Postseason Media Guide
3/8/2004 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY -
Complete Postseason Guide in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
THIS POSTSEASON MEDIA GUIDE:
This Utah women's basketball postseason media guide was compiled by Assistant Sports Information Director Hope Wagner. It is intended to supplement, not duplicate, the 2003-04 media guide.
COMING UP:
The No. 2-seed Utes will face the No. 7-seed San Diego State Aztecs in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10, at the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver, Colo.
TEAM TRAVEL:
The Utah women's basketball team will depart Salt Lake City on Monday, March 8, at 6:35 p.m. (United #1162) and will arrive in Denver at 7:54 p.m. The Utes are scheduled to return on Sunday, March 14.
TEAM HEADQUARTERS:
The Utah traveling party will stay at the Marriott Denver West, 1717 Denver West Blvd., Golden, CO, (80401). Phone: (303) 279-9100. Fax: (303) 271-0205. Assistant Sports Information Director Hope Wagner will accompany the team and will also be accessible via cell phone at (801) 918-6667.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Utah will practice from 12-1:55 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9, and will have shoot-around from 9:30-10:25 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10. However, all practices are closed to the media and public. Interviews with Utah players and Head Coach Elaine Elliott must be set up through Assistant Sports Information Director Hope Wagner.
DIRECTIONS:
Traveling south on I-25 take the Speer Boulevard South exit. At the second stop light, turn right onto Chopper Circle. Traveling north on I-25, take the Auraria Parkway exit. Turn left on 7th Street to enter the grounds of Pepsi Center. From downtown Denver, take Speer Boulevard to Auraria Parkway. Go west on Auraria Parkway and turn right on 7th Street.
POST-GAME INTERVIEWS:
The Utah locker room is closed to the media. Head Coach Elaine Elliott and at least two players will be available in the interview room following the 10-minute cooling off period. The winning team will go first, followed by the losing team.
MWC TOURNAMENT TELECASTS:
All games of the 2004 MWC Championship will appear on television for the fifth straight year. Beth Mowins will call the play-by-play and Becky Hammon will be the color analyst. All games will be broadcast back to each Mountain West Conference market. Quarterfinal and semifinal contests can be seen on over-the-air and cable affiliates throughout the Mountain West Conference region. The semifinals will also air on College Sports Television (CSTV), and the championship will be available to a national audience on ESPN2.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will air locally in Salt Lake City on KULC Channel 9. (Friday's game is conditional on the Utes winning on Wednesday). Wednesday's game will air on tape delay at 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 11. If Utah plays on Friday, the game will air live at 2:30 p.m.
Satellite
Wednesday Galaxy 11 TR 16 C Band Downlink: 4020VFriday Galaxy 11 TR 16 C Band Downlink: 4020V
Clearances
School Market StationAir Force Colorado Springs Adelphia Cable (Channel 6) BYU Provo KBYU (Channel 11) Colorado State Fort Collins Comcast Cable (Channel 32) New Mexico Albuquerque KRQE (Channel 13) San Diego State San Diego Cox (Channel 4) UNLV Las Vegas Cox (Channel 48) Utah Salt Lake City KULC (Channel 9) Wyoming Casper/Cheyenne KTWO (Channel 3) KKTV (Channel 33)
MWC STANDINGS
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.UTAH 12 2 .857 22 6 .786New Mexico 12 2 .857 20 7 .741 UNLV 10 4 .714 21 6 .778 Colorado State 8 6 .571 17 10 .630 Wyoming 6 8 .429 10 17 .370 BYU 5 9 .357 15 13 .536 San Diego State 3 11 .214 8 19 .296 Air Force 0 14 .000 3 24 .111
UTES AND THE MWC TOURNAMENT:
Utah is 5-3 overall in MWC Tournament appearances and 3-1 in quarterfinal contests. Last year, the Utes defeated Air Force 83-46 in the first round before falling to Brigham Young 70-59 in the semifinals.
In 2001-02, the Utes were eliminated in the first round of the tournament by UNLV. In 2000-01, Utah defeated Air Force in the first round, but fell to in-state rival BYU in the semifinals. The Utes won the inaugural MWC Tournament in 1999-00, defeating Air Force and UNLV before claiming the championship with a 61-47 victory over BYU.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah, which tied with New Mexico for the regular-season title, is 22-6 overall and 12-2 in Mountain West Conference play with its only conference losses coming at New Mexico and against UNLV last Thursday. In a preview of its MWC Tournament first-round game, Utah defeated San Diego State 61-53 at home last Saturday.
The Utes are led by sophomores Kim Smith, who averages 15.4 points and 7.5 rebounds, and Shona Thorburn, who adds 11.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. As a team, Utah is holding opponents to 54.0 points per game and has an average margin of victory of 11.7 points.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
San Diego State (8-19, 3-11) suffered its third straight loss, a 63-51 defeat at the hands of Utah to close out regular-season play. The Utes were one of five conference teams (UNLV, New Mexico, Wyoming and BYU are the others) to sweep the regular-season series with the Aztecs.
The Aztecs are led by freshman Michelle Elliott and sophomore Ashlee Dunlap, who average 12.5 and 10.7 points per game, respectively. Dunlap adds a team-high 7.8 rebounds. As a team, SDSU is shooting 38 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc on the year. The Aztecs are out-rebounded by an average of 3.3 boards per game and outscored 53.8 to 59.9.
SERIES SHORTS:
Utah leads the all-time series with the Aztecs 19-10 and has won 12 straight in the series. The last time the two teams met, last Saturday, March 6, Utah won 63-51 in Salt Lake City. The Utes are 12-2 at home, 6-6 away and 1-2 at a neutral site vs. San Diego State.
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 and senior Kelsy Stireman was named to the third-team. Senior Carley Marshall was named honorable mention for the second year in a row.
Smith, who leads Utah in scoring and rebounding, has seven double-doubles on the season. Smith ranks fourth in the MWC in scoring, rebounding and defensive rebounds, fifth in three-point field goal percentage, three-point field goal average and offensive rebounds, seventh in field goal percentage and 11th in free throw percentage. She was named MWC Player of the Week for Feb. 2-8 and is just 30 points away from 1,000 on her career in just her second season.
Thorburn, a second-team honoree for the second year in a row, leads the team in assists and blocks, and ranks second in both scoring and rebounding. At the conference level, Thorburn ranks third in assist/turnover ratio, fourth in assists, seventh in three-point field goal average, 10th in three-point field goal percentage, 11th in scoring and 14th in rebounding.
Stireman, a four-year starter, leads the team in steals, and ranks second in assists and third in field goal percentage. She currently ranks second in the MWC in steals, and fifth in both assist/turnover ratio and assists. Last Saturday, Stireman scored 15 points and nabbed a season-high-tying seven steals vs. San Diego State.
Marshall leads the team in free throw percentage, and ranks third in scoring and assists, and fourth in both rebounding and field goal percentage. Marshall currently ranks eighth in the MWC in field goal percentage and 20th in rebounding.
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 (.386), rebounding defense (30.9), turnover margin (+2.6), three-point field goal average (6.9) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2), and ranks second in scoring defense (54.0), free throw percentage (.713) and assists (15.2), and third in scoring (65.7), rebounding margin (+3.2) and field goal percentage defense (.394).
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 fourth in scoring (15.4), rebounding (7.5) and defensive rebounds (4.9), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.376), three-point field goal average (1.6) and offensive rebounds (2.7), seventh in field goal percentage (.498) and 11th in free throw percentage (.674). Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks third in assist/turnover ratio (2.0), fourth in assists (4.1), seventh in three-point field goal average (1.4), 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.342), 11th in scoring (11.6) and 14th in rebounding (5.4). Senior Kelsy Stireman ranks second in steals (2.3), and fifth in both assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and assists (3.5), while senior Carley Marshall is eighth in field goal percentage (.481) and 20th in rebounding (4.2). Sophomore Julie Wood leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.475) and ranks 10th in three-point field goal average (1.4), while senior Mandie Little is sixth in field goal percentage (.505) and 19th in rebounding (4.2). Junior Lana Sitterud is 12th in three-point field goal percentage (.330) and 14th in three-point field goal average (1.2).
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.
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 eight games and 15 or fewer in 21 of 28 games this season.
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 (at UC Santa Barbara, at Oklahoma, Weber State, at UNLV, BYU, UNLV and San Diego State) 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 four schools nationally (Stanford, Pennsylvania and Idaho are the others) to have four players with 30 or more three-pointers on the season.
CONSISTENCY IN THE STARTING LINEUP:
Utah is the only team in the MWC 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 (116 of 118), while Smith and Thorburn have started all 59 games.
2003-04 COMPARED TO 2002-03:
The Utes this season have many similarities to last year's team. Heading into the MWC Tournament last year, Utah was 22-5 overall and 11-2 in MWC play, just one game off of the Utes' current record. Scoring is up (65.7 ppg compared to 65.4 ppg last year), but rebounding is down (35.9 rpg last year compared to 34.1 this season).
Utah has taken less three-pointers (502 to 548) and free throws (439 to 468) and has fewer blocks (49 to 75) and steals (205 to 272). However, the Utes have taken more overall shots (1484 to 1477), have a higher field goal percentage (.449 to .413), higher three-point field goal percentage (.386 to .352), have dished out more assists (426 to 379) and have fewer turnovers (357 to 396) this season.
STEADY SMITH:
Sophomore Kim Smith has reached double digits scoring in 55 of 59 games on her career at Utah. She also has one or more treys in 51 of 59 career games. This season alone, Smith has at least one three-pointer in 23 of 28 games and has pulled down five or more rebounds in 26 of 28 games.
THORBURN DOES IT ALL:
Shona Thorburn, who ranks second on the team in scoring and rebounding, has reached double figures scoring 17 times this season and has scored five or more points in 27 of 28 games. The guard also has at least two assists in 23 of 28 games, one three-pointer in 21 of 28 games and four or more rebounds in 22 of 28 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 28 games. In addition, Marshall has four or more rebounds in 18 games and Little has four or more boards in 15 of 28 games this season.
STIREMAN RUNS THE POINT, DEFENDS WELL:
Senior point guard Kelsy Stireman has at least one steal in 24 of 28 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 and San Diego State. She also has three or fewer turnovers in 22 of 28 games and two or more assists in 22 of 28 games.
WOOD DEADLY FROM DOWNTOWN:
Sophomore Julie Wood, the MWC leader in three-point shooting, is a definite threat from long range. Of her 46 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.
SITTERUD COMING UP HUGE:
Junior captain Lana Sitterud was huge in some of the Utes' MWC wins. Against Wyoming on Feb. 14, she scored 11 points, all in the first half, on 67 percent from the field and 75 percent from beyond the arc. Against CSU on Feb. 12, she scored 15 points on five three-pointers, including three in a row, to cut the Ram lead to two and get Utah back into the game.
On Feb. 8 at UNLV, Sitterud, defending RanDee Henry, held the junior to just six points on 1-of-11 shooting. It was the first time all season that Henry didn't reach double figures scoring. The other time the first-team all-conference pick didn't score at least 10 points this season was March 4, when Sitterud held Henry to just six points and three rebounds.
At Brigham Young, sophomore Ambrosia Anderson had 17 points and nine rebounds in the first half. Utah made some adjustments, putting Sitterud on Anderson, and the Cougar was held to just five points and four rebounds in the second half.
SMITH COULD REACH 1,000 POINTS IN 2003-04:
Forward Kim Smith currently has 430 points on the year. Combined with her 540 from last season, the sophomore currently has 970 career points. At her current pace of 15.4 points per game, Smith needs to play in two 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. The Utes have a minimum of one game left this season and will likely play more in the MWC and NCAA Tournaments.
UTES ON THE RADIO:
All of Utah's games in the Mountain West Conference Tournament will be broadcast live on KALL 700-AM. The games will be called by Brad Stone, Sports Director. In his 14th year with the station, Stone is also the host of the Ute men's basketball and football game broadcasts, as well as the "Redzone," an hour-long show devoted to Ute sports.
UP NEXT:
If the Utes defeat San Diego State, they will face either UNLV or BYU in the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Friday, March 12. Utah is 2-0 this season against the Cougars and went 1-1 against the Lady Rebels.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballUtah: 66, Cincinnati: 73 | Big 12 Tournament | Utah Basketball Postgame Press Conference
Wednesday, March 11
Utah: 75, Baylor: 101 | Utah Basketball Postgame Press Conference
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