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Utah Women's Basketball Notes
12/18/2002 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP: The University of Utah women's basketball team (6-1) travels to Pullman, Wash., to face the Washington State Cougars (0-7) at 1 p.m. (PST) this Saturday, Dec. 21.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah picked up its sixth-straight win on Monday with a 74-54 win over New Mexico State at the Huntsman Center. With the exception of the first few minutes, Utah dominated the game, forcing 24 Aggie turnovers and out-rebounding New Mexico State 34-28. The Utes shot 49 percent on the game, while the Aggies were 22-of-50 from the field (44 percent).
Freshman Kim Smith led a trio of Utes in double figures scoring with 19 points. Sophomore Shona Thorburn added 16, while junior Mandie Little finished with 13. Thorburn also had a team-high five rebounds to go along with four assists. Junior Kelsy Stireman dished out a season-high eight assists and junior Carley Marshall had a game-high two blocks.
On the season, three Utes are averaging double figures scoring: Smith (18.3), Thorburn (14.9) and Marshall (10.0). Little averages a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game. As a team, Utah is out-shooting its opponents by 10 percent (.443 to .343) and outscoring them by an average of 21.7 points per game.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Washington State - The Cougars (0-7) fell just short of a victory against Montana last Saturday, losing 57-53. Down 30-26 at the end of the first half, Montana opened the second half by blitzing the Cougars with a 7-0 run to take a 33-30 advantage at the 17:05 mark. Washington State responded with four straight points of their own, but Montana's Hollie Tyler hit a trey to give the Lady Griz the lead right back at 36-34. It would be a lead Montana would not relinquish the remainder of the game. Bianca McCall led the Cougars, recording her fifth consecutive game of scoring double-digits in points with 15. Kim Dugan added 10 points.
On the season, Washington State is led by McCall, who averages 12.9 point and 8.7 rebounds per game. The winless Cougars are being outscored by 22 points a game and out-rebounded 38.6 to 34.9.
SERIES SHORTS:
* Utah leads the series with Washington State 7-1. In their last meeting on Nov. 20, 1999, the Utes won 65-49 at the Huntsman Center. Utah is 3-0 at home, 3-0 away and 1-1 at a neutral site vs. the Cougars.
MWC STANDINGS
W L Pct.New Mexico 8 1 .889UTAH 6 1 .857 BYU 6 2 .750 Colorado State 5 2 .714 UNLV 5 2 .714 Wyoming 4 2 .667 Air Force 4 2 .667 San Diego State 2 4 .333
MWC PRESEASON 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
UTES ON THE RADIO
Utah's game at Washington State will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. (PST) on KALL 910-AM. The game 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.
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes lead the conference in scoring defense (49.4), scoring margin (+21.7), turnover margin (+6.29) and three-point field goal average (9.29). Utah ranks second in field goal percentage (.443), field goal percentage defense (.343) and assist/turnover ratio (1.00), and third in scoring (71.1), three-point field goal percentage (.409), rebounding (36.9), rebounding margin (+2.7), assists (15.29), steals (9.86) and defensive rebounds (25.43).
Individually, freshman Kim Smith ranks second in three-point field goal percentage (.590), third in scoring (18.3) and three-point field goal average (3.3), fifth in three-point field goal average (2.6), tied for sixth in defensive rebounds (4.4), seventh in field goal percentage (.536), tied for ninth in steals (1.7), 12th in defensive rebounds (3.9) and 15th in rebounding (5.4).
Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.62), tied for ninth in both scoring (14.9) and free throw percentage (.778), 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.391), tied for 11th in steals (1.6), 12th in assists (3.0) and tied for 16th in rebounding (5.3).
Junior Carley Marshall leads the MWC in free throw percentage (.941), ranks third in blocked shots (1.6), fifth in field goal percentage (.553), tied for 16th in rebounding (5.3) and 18th in scoring (10.0).
Point guard Kelsy Stireman leads the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.80), is eighth in assists (4.0) and tied for 11th in steals (1.6).
Junior Mandie Little leads the conference in field goal percentage (.600). is tied for eighth in offensive rebounds (2.1), ranks ninth in rebounding (5.7) and is tied for 11th in blocked shots (0.60).
Sophomore Lana Sitterud is seventh in steals (1.9), tied for 10th in three-point field goals per game (1.3) and 13th in three-point field goal percentage (.360).
Freshman Julie Wood is tied for sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.444) and tied for eighth in three-point field goal average (1.33).
SMOTHERING DEFENSE:
Utah has not allowed more than 57 points in a game this season and has held three of its seven opponents under 45 points. In addition, only one team has shot over 37 percent from the field (New Mexico State, 44 percent), but the Utes still won that game by 20 points.
CANADIAN CONNECTERS:
Freshman Kim Smith and sophomore Shona Thorburn, both from Canada, are the Utes' top two scorers. Smith has reached double digits scoring in all seven games, while Thorburn has scored in double figures five times this season, including two 27-point performances.
UP NEXT:
The Utes travel to Missoula, Mont., for the Montana Tournament next Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 28-29. On Saturday, Utah plays Mississippi State at 6 p.m. On Sunday, the Utes will face either host Montana or Texas Pan-American.
Players Mentioned
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