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Utah Women's Basketball Notes
12/27/2002 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY -
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COMING UP:
The University of Utah women's basketball team (7-1) travels to Missoula, Mont., this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 28-29, for the Montana Lady Griz Holiday Classic. The Utes face No. 14 Mississippi State (8-1) at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Utah will then play either host Montana (6-2) or Texas-Pan American (0-8) on Sunday. The consolation game is at 6 p.m., with the championship following at 8 p.m.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTAH:
Utah stretched its string of consecutive victories to seven last Saturday with an 85-50 rout of Washington State in Pullman, Wash. The Utes shot 48 percent on the game and held the Cougars to 37 percent. Utah also out-rebounded Washington State 44-28 and forced 21 Cougar turnovers. Though Washington State out-shot Utah 40-36 percent in the first half, the Utes grabbed 16 more boards (26-10) than the Cougars. Junior Mandie Little had nine rebounds on the half, just three less than the entire Washington State team. The Utes owned the second half, outscoring the Cougars 47-29. Utah shot a blistering 63 percent on the half. Sophomore Shona Thorburn led a group of four Utes in double figures scoring with a game-high 19 points. Freshman Julie Wood scored a career-high 17 points and junior Carley Marshall and freshman Kim Smith finished with 12 apiece. Marshall and Thorburn each added nine rebounds, while Little pulled down a game-high 10 boards. Thorburn also had a game-high five assists and four steals.
On the season, three Utes are averaging double figures scoring: Smith (17.5), Thorburn (15.4) and Marshall (10.3). Little averages a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game. As a team, Utah is out-shooting its opponents by more than 10 percent (.448 to .347) and outscoring them by an average of 23.4 points per game, which ranks 11th nationally.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Mississippi State - The Bulldogs (8-1) are riding a six-game winning streak. MSU defeated Bethune-Cookman, 66-61, and Central Florida, 81-30, in the UCF Holiday Classic last week. In the championship game against Central Florida, freshman guard Doceide Warren, playing in just her third game, led the team with 15 points and seven rebounds. She also dished out three assists and grabbed two steals. LaToya Thomas added 13 points in 23 minutes of play, while Tan White poured in 12 points. She also led the team with six assists and no turnovers. Junior forward Seneca Anderson contributed a season-high 12 points.
On the season, Mississippi State is led by Thomas, 26.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. White adds 19.2 points per game, while Warren is averaging 12.7. The No. 14 Bulldogs are outscoring their opponents by an average of 15.3 points a game. MSU also out-rebounds opponents 41.2 to 29.4.
Montana - The Lady Griz (6-2) are coming off a 65-60 loss to Oregon on Dec. 21. Montana held a one-point lead at halftime, but the Ducks edged past the Lady Griz in the second half for the victory. Montana shot 37 percent from the field, compared to the 42 percent of Oregon. Sophomore Crystal Baird had a career-high 15 points and center Hollie Tyler notched her fourth double-double of the season (14 points, 10 rebounds) in the loss.
Tyler is averaging 17.3 points and 8.6 boards to lead Montana. Katie Edwards averages 9.4 points, while Baird adds 8.3 points per game for the Lady Griz, who are outscoring opponents 64.8 to 60.1.
Texas-Pan American - The Lady Broncos fell to 0-8 on the season with an 84-58 loss to Midwestern State last Saturday. MSU built an early 21-10 advantage, but UTPA cut the lead to four points. Midwestern State responded with a 16-3 run to close out the first half en route to the rout. Forward Julie Porter led all scorers with a career-high 19 points, making all eight of her shots from the field. Senior Naima Williams added 13 points, while sophomore guard Jennifer Piwonka grabbed 11 rebounds as the Lady Broncos out-rebounded MSU 36-23.
On the season, UTPA is led by Williams, who averages 10 points per game, while senior Alex Gravel is averaging 9.8 points per contest. Porter has a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game average. As a team, the Lady Broncos are being outscored by an average of 26.7 points and are out-shot 34 percent to 45 percent. Additionally, UTPA averages 24.5 turnovers per game.
SERIES SHORTS:
* Saturday's meeting is Utah's first-ever with Mississippi State.
* Utah trails the series with Montana 7-10. In their last meeting on Dec. 21 of last year, the Utes won 63-58 in Missoula. Utah is 5-3 at home, 2-6 away and 0-1 at a neutral site vs. the Lady Griz.
* Should Utah and Texas-Pan American meet on Sunday, it will be the first meeting of the two teams.
MWC LEADERS:
As a team, the Utes lead the conference in seven statistical categories: scoring defense (49.5), scoring margin (+23.4), field goal percentage (.448), field goal percentage defense (.347), three-point field goal percentage (.408), rebounding defense (33.4) and three-point field goal average (8.88). Utah ranks second in scoring (72.9), rebounding margin (+4.4), assists (15.75), steals (10.25) and turnover margin (+6.25), and third in assist/turnover ratio (1.03) and defensive rebounds (25.50).
Individually, freshman Kim Smith ranks second in three-point field goal percentage (.561), third in scoring (17.5) and three-point field goal average (2.9), eighth in field goal percentage (.516), tied for 12th in steals (1.5), 12th in offensive rebounds (2.1) and 13th in defensive rebounds (3.8).
Sophomore Shona Thorburn ranks fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.86), tied for fourth in three-point field goal average (2.5), sixth in scoring (15.4), seventh in defensive rebounds (4.5), tied for seventh in steals (1.9), tied for 10th in free throw percentage (.773), 11th in both three-point field goal percentage (.392) and assists (3.3), and tied for 17th in rebounding (5.2).
Junior Carley Marshall leads the MWC in free throw percentage (.947), ranks fourth in blocked shots (1.5), fifth in field goal percentage (.544), 10th in offensive rebounds (2.3), 13th in rebounding (5.8) and 17th in scoring (10.2).
Point guard Kelsy Stireman ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (2.23), eighth in assists (3.6) and 10th in steals (1.6). Meanwhile, junior Mandie Little ranks sixth in offensive rebounds (2.6), eighth in rebounding (6.2), tied for 12th in blocked shots (0.5) and 15th in rebounding (3.6).
Sophomore Lana Sitterud is ninth in steals (1.8) and 14th in three-point field goal average (1.1), and freshman Julie Wood is third in three-point field goal percentage (.500) and seventh in three-point field goal average (1.6).
SMOTHERING DEFENSE:
Utah has not allowed more than 57 points in a game this season and has held four of its eight opponents to 50 points or less. In addition, only one team has shot more than 37 percent from the field (New Mexico State, 44 percent), but the Utes still won that game by 20 points. Utah ranks fifth nationally in scoring defense, holding its opponents to an average of 49.5 points per game.
UP NEXT:
The Utes travel to Ogden, Utah, next Saturday, Jan. 4, to face Weber State. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
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