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Utah Women's Basketball Notes
11/27/2002 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP:
The University of Utah women's basketball team will participate in the Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29-30, in Moraga, Calif. The Utes face Idaho at 5 p.m. (PST) on Friday. On Saturday, Utah will play either Saint Mary's or Western Carolina. The consolation game is at 5 p.m. and the championship follows at 7:05 p.m.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah evened its record at 1-1 last night with a 96-42 rout of Montana Tech. The Utes shot 61 percent on the game and tied the school record for three pointers in a game with 13. Utah out-rebounded the Orediggers 35-25, forced 23 Montana Tech turnovers and held the Orediggers to just 31 percent shooting. Six Utes finished in double figures scoring, led by freshman Kim Smith with 17 points. Junior Carley Marshall and sophomore Shona Thorburn added 16 apiece, junior Mandie Little and sophomore Lana Sitterud finished with 15 each and junior Hanna Green had 12. Smith had a game-high four steals, while Marshall pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Thorburn dished out seven assists to lead Utah. She also added five boards.
On the season, the Utes are led by Thorburn, who averages 21.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Smith adds 13.5 points and 2.0 steals, while Marshall leads the team with 2.5 blocks per game.
MWC STANDINGS
W L Pct.Wyoming 2 0 1.000 BYU 1 0 1.000 UNLV 1 0 1.000UTAH 1 1 .500 Colorado State 1 1 .500 San Diego State 1 1 .500 New Mexico 1 1 .500 Air Force 1 1 .500
MWC PRE-SEASON MEDIA POLL
Rank Team (first-place votes) Points1 BYU (8) 110 2 Colorado State (7) 103 3 New Mexico (1) 914 UTAH 70 5 UNLV 69 6 Wyoming 49 7 San Diego State 31 8 Air Force 17
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Idaho - The Vandals opened the season with two losses on the road. Idaho lost 72-49 at Idaho State on Nov. 25 and 78-64 at Weber State on Nov. 22. The Vandals are led by Taylor Benson, Autumn Fielding and Keisha Moore. Benson averages 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while Fielding has a 13.5 points per game average. Moore leads the team with a rebounding average of 10 per game to go along with her 10.5 points per game average. In the loss at Weber State, the Vandals had four players in double figures scoring, led by Benson with 21 points. In its two losses, Idaho has been out-shot .436 to .375 by opponents.
Saint Mary's - Saint Mary's (1-1) defeated San Diego 60-47 on Monday. Julie Morris and Katie Davis finished with 14 points apiece, while Triola Jackson added 13. Jackson also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Last Saturday, the Gaels fell at UNLV 68-56. Leading the way offensively for Saint Mary's was Jackson, who recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Jackson is averaging a team-high 13.5 points and 14.5 rebounds per game.
Western Carolina - The Panthers (2-0) defeated High Point 72-47 on Sunday behind the double-double of Tiffany Hamm, who finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Last Friday, the team defeated Gardner-Webb 85-62. Jennifer Gardner led three Panthers in double-digit scoring with 16 points. Western Carolina has three players that average double figures in scoring: Hamm (16.0), Yoneko Allen (13.5) and Gardner (11.0). Hamm also averages 10.0 rebounds per game. The Panthers are shooting .487 on the season.
SERIES SHORTS:
* The Utes lead the all-time series with Idaho 5-2. The two teams met most recently on Dec. 22, 1998, with Utah winning 72-55 in Moscow. The Utes are 4-1 at home, 1-1 away and 0-1 at a neutral site vs. the Vandals.
* Utah leads the all-time series with the Gaels 2-0. The last time the two teams met, on Jan. 6, 2000, Utah won 50-48 in Moraga. Utah is 1-0 at home and 1-0 away vs. Saint Mary's.
* This is the first meeting between the Utes and Western Carolina.
QUOTING HEAD COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT:
On the upcoming Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic - "Saint Mary's is a beautiful place and has fielded a very strong team over the last six years. Our focus remains on building a new group of players into a competitive team."
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes lead the Mountain West Conference in field goal percentage (.471), three-point field goal percentage (.457), three-point field goals made (10.5), scoring defense (48.0), scoring margin (+25.5), assists (18.00) and assist/turnover ratio (1.16). Utah also ranks second in scoring offense (73.5), field goal percentage defense (.325), rebounding defense (35.0) and turnover margin (+5.5), and third in blocked shots (4.0) and steals (11.0).
Individually, sophomore Shona Thorburn leads the conference in scoring (21.5), three-point field goals per game (4.5) and assist/turnover ratio (2.67), is tied for first in free throw percentage (1.000), ranks third in three-point field goal percentage (.562), tied for seventh in assists (4.0), eighth in defensive rebounds (5.5), tied for eighth in rebounding (6.5) and tied for 15th in steals (1.5). Freshman Kim Smith is fourth in three-point field goals per game (2.5), tied for fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.500), tied for ninth in steals (2.0), 12th in scoring (13.5) and tied for 15th in defensive rebounds (4.0). Junior Mandie Little is tied for first in free throw percentage (1.000), tied for fourth in offensive rebounds (3.0), tied for seventh in blocked shots (1.0), tied for eighth in rebounding (6.5), tied for 10th in field goal percentage (.545) and tied for 15th in steals (1.5). Junior Carley Marshall leads the conference in field goal percentage (.667), is tied for first in free throw percentage (1.000), ranks second in blocked shots (2.5) and tied for 12th in defensive rebounds (4.5). Kelsy Stireman ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (1.75), is tied for 10th in assists (3.5) and tied for 15th in steals (1.5). Meanwhile, sophomore Lana Sitterud ranks tied for fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.500), tied for fifth in three-point field goals per game (2.0), tied for ninth in steals (2.0), tied for 14th in field goal percentage (.538) and 20th in scoring (10.0). Hanna Green is tied for fourth in both three-point field goal percentage (.500) and assist/turnover ratio (1.5), tied for 11th in three-point field goals made (1.0) and tied for 14th in assists (3.0).
UTES ON THE RADIO:
Both of Utah's games at the Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic will be broadcast live on KALL 910-AM. The games will be called by Chris Tunis, who served as the president of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association from 1999-2001. A graduate of San Diego State, Tunis has been selected as Utah Sportscaster of the Year seven times by his peers.
UP NEXT:
The Utes host Fresno State for a 3 p.m. game next Saturday, Dec. 7.
Players Mentioned
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