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 #26 vs. BYU
2/22/2005 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2005
Game #26
University of Utah (19-6, 8-2 MWC) vs. BYU (16-8, 7-4 MWC)
7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005 - Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000)
Salt Lake City, Utah
Radio: Hot Ticket 700 AM
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Utah vs. BYU Fast Breaks
> This is the 81st meeting between Utah and BYU on the women's basketball hardwood.
> Utah leads the series 52-28.
> Utah rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat BYU 61-53 back on Jan. 29 in Provo. The Utes were led by Shona Thorburn and Kim Smith, who each tallied double-doubles. Thorburn scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds, while Smith tallied 15 points and 11 boards.
> Utah has won five of the last six meetings with the Cougars. The only BYU win during that stretch was a 70-59 decision during the 2003 MWC Tournament in Vegas.
> BYU hasn't won in Salt Lake City since Jan. 26, 2002, when the Cougars picked up a 77-65 win over Utah. The Utes lead the all-time series in the Huntsman Center by a tally of 27-7.
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 456-184. 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 BYU women's basketball.
He has compiled a 74-43 record in his fourth season 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 rebounded from a loss to New Mexico on Feb. 13 with a 74-45 dismantling of Air Force on Saturday. The Utes got some help from Thursday's opponent, when BYU upset New Mexico on Saturday.
Those two results put Utah and New Mexico into a tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference. Both the Utes and Lobos have an 8-2 conference mark with four games left to play. BYU is just 1 1/2 games behind at 7-4 in league play.
Against Air Force on Saturday, Utah scored the first nine points of the game and never looked back. Shona Thorburn scored the first seven points of the contest for the Utes. She finished with 14 points and nine assists.
Four Utes were in double-figures in the victory. All 11 Utah players in uniform saw action and 10 of them scored. Kim Smith, Lana Sitterud and Heidi Carlsen all tallied 11 points for Utah in the 29-point victory.
The Utes converted at a rate of .632 from behind the three-point arc for their second-best three-point shooting night of the season. Utah shot .630 from the field, while Air Force only mustered a .293 field-goal percentage.
Scouting BYU
After starting the season 11-7, BYU has won five of its last six to improve to 16-8 overall and 7-4 in the MWC. The Cougars are coming off a 55-46 victory over league-leading New Mexico.
The Cougars held New Mexico to just 32.2 percent shooting and a paltry 15.8 percent from behind the three-point arc.
Julie Sullivan leads BYU with 10.9 points per game. Ambrosia Anderson (10.7) and Kristen Kozlowski (10.0) also average double figures.
RPI Ramblings
As of Feb. 17, Utah was No. 25 in the latest WBCA/Summerville RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) calculation.
The RPI is a formula used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to help determine qualification for the NCAA Tournament field. The Ratings Percentage Index is based on three categories: 1) a team's winning percentage; 2) its strength of schedule; and 3) its opponents' strength of schedule.
Utah has the highest RPI of any MWC team. The Utes' strength of schedule is currently No. 40. New Mexico has the next highest RPI in the conference at No. 35.
Approaching 20
In its 31st season of women's college basketball, the University of Utah is closing in on its 22nd 20-win season. The percentage is even better, when the first season (1974-75) is tossed out of the equation, because the Utes only played 14 games that season.
Under current head coach Elaine Elliott, Utah has reached the 20-win plateau 15 times in her 21 previous seasons.
Lana's Last Time
Thursday night's game against BYU will mark the final Huntsman Center appearance for Utah's lone senior in 2004-05. Three-time team captain Lana Sitterud will be making her final home court appearance against the Cougars.
Sitterud has played in every game during her Utah career. Coming into Thursday's game her total stands at 114 consecutive games. She has started all 25 games this season and has a total of 37 starts so far in her career.
Sitterud is currently the No. 3 scorer on the Utah squad. She leads the team and is ranked No. 2 in the MWC in three-point shooting, converting at a .420 clip. She is also the team leader and ranks third in the league in steals, averaging 2.24 per game. Sitterud also has league-leading streak of 21 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer made.
Smith Recognized by Naismith Award
Thirty NCAA Division I women's basketball players were recognized by the Atlanta Tipoff Club Monday as Midseason Candidates for the Naismith Award.
Utah's Kim Smith was among those top 30 players. In addition to being a candidate for the Naismith Award, she is also up for the Wooden Award and the Wade Trophy.
Players Mentioned
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