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 - Game #20 at BYU
1/26/2005 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2005
Game #20
University of Utah (14-5, 3-1 MWC) vs. BYU (11-6, 2-2 MWC)
3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, 2005 - Marriott Center (22,700)
Provo, Utah
Radio: Hot Ticket 700 AM
TV: BYU-TV (Comcast Channel 21; Dish Network Channel 9403; DirecTV Channel 374)
Audio Stream - Click Here
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Utah-BYU Fast Breaks
> This is the 80th meeting between Utah and Brigham Young University on the women's basketball hardwood.
> Utah leads the series 51-28.
> Utah won both meetings last season. The Utes won 66-62 in Provo, while taking a 73-62 victory at the Huntsman Center.
> BYU's last victory in the series came on March 14, 2003. That Cougar victory was a 70-59 decision in the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.
> BYU's last victory over Utah in the Marriott Center was February 23, 2002. The Cougars won that matchup by a tally of 62-53.
> Utah has won seven of the last 11 meetings and four of the last five.
Utah Head Coach Elaine Elliott
University of Utah head women's basketball coach Elaine Elliott is in her 22nd season at the helm of the Ute program.
Elliott has a career record of 451-183. She is the winningest coach in Utah basketball history. Elliott has led the Utah women to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, eight regular-season conference titles, three divisional crowns and five conference tournament championships. Elliott has been regarded for years as one of the best women's basketball coaches in the country. She has the longest tenure of any coach in the Mountain West Conference.
In 21 years, Elliott has had an astounding 20 winning seasons. She has been named her conference's coach of the year eight different times. Elliott has coached 28 first-team all-conference players and six Players of the Year.
Elliott was named the John and Nellie Wooden National Coach of the Year following the 2000-01 season.
BYU Head Coach Jeff Judkins
Jeff Judkins is in his fourth season as the head coach of the BYU women's basketball program.
He has compiled a 69-41 record in his three-plus seasons with the Cougars.
Prior to his time as the BYU women's head coach, he was an assistant for the BYU men's squad for two seasons. Judkins also served as an assistant coach for the Utah men's team for 10 seasons
Judkins played basketball for the Utes from 1974-78, earning first-team All-WAC honors three times. He was also a second-team Academic All-America selection during his playing career at Utah. He is a Highland High School graduate.
Judkins spent five seasons in the National Basketball Association, playing for the Boston Celtics, Portland Trailblazers, Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz.
Utah Update
Utah suffered its first Mountain West Conference loss and just its fifth defeat of the season Saturday at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M.
Utah led 8-3 in the early-going. But New Mexico stormed back to take a 13-10 advantage. The Utes led by six, 28-22 when Shona Thorburn hit a three-pointer with 4:26 left in the first half. Once again the Lobos rallied.
New Mexico closed out the second half on an 11-2 run to take a 33-30 lead into the locker room. The Lobos pushed their lead to as many as 11 points, 51-40, with eight minutes remaining.
Utah would not let New Mexico or its 14,890 fans celebrate just yet. The Utes pulled back within five points on two occasions in the final minute. But the comeback fell just short, as the Lobos picked up the 61-55 victory.
Shona Thorburn scored 19 of her season-high 28 points in the first half. Kim Smith tallied 12 points and eight rebounds.
Scouting BYU
BYU has compiled an 11-6 record and a 2-2 mark in Mountain West Conference play. The Cougars have defeated Colorado State and Air Force, while falling to Wyoming and New Mexico in the MWC.
Ambrosia Anderson leads the team with an 11.4 points per game average. She usually comes off the bench for BYU. Danielle Cheesman is the team's top rebounder, pulling down 9.2 caroms per game. Cheesman ranks No. 3 in the MWC in rebounding.
Major Margin
Despite dropping last Saturday's contest at New Mexico, Utah is still the No. 2-ranked team in the Mountain West Conference in scoring margin.
The Utes have an average scoring margin of +13.0 through 19 games this season. Utah is also ranked No. 30 in all of NCAA Division I in that category.
The Utes' scoring margin has been helped by two 50-point wins this season. Of the Utah's 14 victories this season, 10 of them have been by double-digit margins.
Take Two, They're Free
Utah is the No. 2-ranked free-throw shooting team in the Mountain West Conference this season. The Utes are converting their opportunities from the charity stripe at a rate of .725 so far this season.
Utah's percentage is up from .711 last season, when the Utes finished as the third-best in the MWC from the line.
Utah has converted at better than its current .725 percentage in its last four games. The Utes have been better than .725 in 13 of 19 games this season.
Smith Named Midseason All-America
Utah junior forward Kim Smith has been named to the Women's Wooden Award Midseason All-America team. Smith, who was also a member of the Wooden Award's Preseason All-America team, is one of 20 women's players in the nation to earn distinction as a Midseason All-America performer.
Smith is currently leading the Mountain West Conference in scoring and rebounding. She averages 16.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. She ranks No. 31 nationally in rebounding and 34th in free-throw percentage (.861).
A poll was conducted by the John R. Wooden Women's Award National Advisory Board to determine the top 20 midseason candidates for the 2004-05 Wooden Player of the Year Award and All-America team. The top 20 candidates have been selected based on individual performance and team records thus far in the 2004-05 season. Players who did not make this list are eligible for the national ballot, which is released in early March.
Sho-Stopper
One week after earning Mountain West Conference Player of the Week honors, junior guard Shona Thorburn had another incredible week.
Thorburn tallied back-to-back double-doubles, the eighth and ninth of her career, against Air Force and New Mexico.
In just 30 minutes of floor time against the Air Force Academy, Thorburn tallied 13 points and dished out 11 assists. With her five field goals and 11 assists, Thorburn had a hand in 16 of Utah's 37 field goals. That means she was directly or indirectly responsible for 43 percent of Utah's 97 points against the Falcons.
All Thorburn did for an encore was score a season-high 28 points and pull down 12 rebounds in Saturday's loss at New Mexico.
Players Mentioned
F
/ 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