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 Host UNLV Thursday Night at Huntsman Center
2/1/2005 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2005
Game #21
University of Utah (15-5, 4-1 MWC) vs. UNLV (11-8, 2-3 MWC)
7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005 - Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000)
Salt Lake City, Utah
Radio: Hot Ticket 700 AM
TV: College Sports Television (CSTV)
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Utah vs. UNLV Fast Breaks
> This is the 28th meeting between Utah and UNLV on the women's basketball hardwood.
> Utah leads the series 16-11.
> Utah took two of three games from the Rebels last season. The Utes won 72-55 in Las Vegas, before dropping a 68-60 overtime decision in Salt Lake City. Utah avenged that overtime loss with a 59-55 win in the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
> Utah has won 15 of the last 21 meetings with UNLV.
> UNLV owned the early portion of the series. The Rebels defeated Utah in five of the first six meetings, including five straight from 1975 through 1978.
> From 1998 through 2001, Utah won seven straight against UNLV.
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 452-183. 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.
UNLV Head Coach Regina Miller
Regina Miller is in her seventh season as the head coach of the UNLV Lady Rebels. She is in her 13th season as a collegiate head coach.
Miller has a record of 130-69 in her six-plus years at UNLV. She is 190-169 overall.
Prior to taking over the Lady Rebel program, Miller was the head coach at Western Illinois. She guided the Westerwinds from a 3-21 mark in her first season to an NCAA Tournament berth in her third season. At UNLV, Miller's teams have been involved in postseason play for the past four seasons, including one NCAA Tournament berth and three WNIT appearances. The Lady Rebels were the WNIT runners-up last season.
Utah Update
Utah rebounded from its first conference loss of the season with a come-from-behind, 61-53 victory over arch-rival BYU Saturday.
Utah trailed BYU by four at halftime, 31-27. The Cougars opened the second half with a 7-0 run to go on top by 11 points, 38-27. BYU still held a 10-point edge, 44-34, with 10:54 remaining in the game.
A Lana Sitterud three-pointer started a 10-0 outburst for Utah. Shona Thorburn capped the 10-0 run with a three-pointer to tie the game at 44-44 with 8:27 remaining. A BYU bucket from Danielle Cheesman put the Cougars up 46-44.
The Utes then regained the lead for the first time since the four-minute mark of the first half. Camie Allen took a feed from Thorburn near the top of the key and buried a three-pointer to give Utah a 47-46 edge. The Utes would never trail again.
Thorburn led Utah with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Kim Smith tacked on 15 points and 11 boards for the Utes. Smith ranks No. 2 in the MWC in scoring and No. 1 in rebounding.
Scouting UNLV
This season, UNLV was bitten by the injury bug. Honorable mention All-America performer Sherry McCracklin has not seen the floor this season, suffering an injury in preseason workouts.
UNLV opened the season 4-5, before going on a five-game winning streak to close out non-conference action. The Lady Rebels then opened MWC action with three straight losses. However, UNLV has won its last two, including a 63-60 victory over league-leading New Mexico.
Most recently, the Lady Rebels dispatched Air Force, 76-51.
Sheena Moore leads UNLV in scoring (15.8 ppg) and assists (3.9 apg). RanDee Henry averages 15.2 points per game and is third in the MWC in rebounding (8.9 rpg).
Utes On TV Thursday
Utah will make its second national television appearance in a span of less than two weeks on Thursday. The Utes' contest with UNLV is slated to air on College Sports Television (CSTV).
CSTV is available in Salt Lake City on Comcast Cable. The network is also available nation-wide on DirecTV on Channel 610.
Thursday's game is one of four regular-season appearances on national TV for Utah.
Bill Doleman will be handling play-by-play for Thursday's game, with color analysis being provided by Krista Blunk.
Unlimited Long Distance
Utah remains the best three-point shooting team in the Mountain West Conference after Saturday's 7-of-15 performance at BYU.
The Utes are converting at a rate of .361 from behind the three-point arc. They have made 137 of their 379 three-point attempts this season.
Utah has hit at least five three-pointers in each of its last seven games and in 17 of the 20 games so far 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 MWC in rebounding and is No. 2 in scoring. She averages 16.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. She ranks No. 34 nationally in rebounding and 25th in free-throw percentage (.868).
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
Junior guard Shona Thorburn has been on a tear as of late. The Hamilton, Ontario, Canada native is averaging 20.4 points per game over her last seven outings.
Despite scoring more than 20 points a game in that span, Thorburn's other contributions have not dwindled. She is averaging 6.6 assists and 7.1 rebounds per contest over those seven games, while shooting .475 from the field and .528 from three-point range. Her numbers are even better in conference play. In Utah's five Mountain West Conference games, Thorburn is averaging 21.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest.
Thorburn has recorded double-doubles in three straight contests. She had 13 points and 11 assists against Air Force on Jan. 20; 28 points and 12 rebounds at New Mexico on Jan. 22; and 22 points and 12 boards against Brigham Young Saturday.
Chart-Toppers
As mentioned above, Smith leads the Mountain West Conference in rebounding. Thorburn, meanwhile, leads the league in assists, averaging 6.50 helpers per contest.
Smith also leads the league in free-throw percentage (.868) and defensive rebounds (6.45 pg). Thorburn is also No. 1 in the conference in minutes played per game, logging an average of 37.65 minutes of floor time per contest. Smith is right behind her teammate in the No. 2 position, averaging 37.35 minutes per game.
Players Mentioned
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