Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Western Colorado (EXHIBITION) on October 27, 2025 at TBD
TBD
Women's Basketball
vs Western Colorado (EXHIBITION)
Saturday, February 8
SALT LAKE CITY
3:00 p.m.
University of Utah
64
vs
61
*NEW MEXICO
Utah Women Defeat New Mexico 64-61 in Overtime
2/8/2003 12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY - In a thrilling overtime game at the Huntsman Center this afternoon, the University of Utah women's basketball team remained the only undefeated team in Mountain West Conference play with a 64-61 win over New Mexico. Now midway through conference play, the Utes are 17-3 overall and undefeated at home on the season.
"A blessing came down on me from somewhere," Head Coach Elaine Elliott joked. "We survived despite a difficult shooting day. But this is a lesson for us, because I know now that we won't quit."
"They posed a problem in the zone because they're huge," she continued. "We needed to be more prepared and we needed a much more aggressive mind set."
The Utes shot just under 36 percent from the field on the game while the Lobos connected on 44 percent of their shots. New Mexico also out-rebounded Utah 38-33. The difference was turnovers, as the Utes scored 18 points off 21 Lobo turnovers while committing 14 of their own.
Sophomore Shona Thorburn, who hit the shot to send the game into overtime, led Utah with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists, followed by sophomore Lana Sitterud with 16 points and five assists.
"Shona made the choice, pulled up and made the shot," Elliott said. "It wasn't planned - I try to let them make decisions."
Freshman Kim Smith, who fouled out of the game with 17 seconds left in regulation, scored 14 points and six rebounds. Junior Mandie Little pulled down a team-high eight boards.
New Mexico jumped out to a 7-3 lead early in the first half as the Utes made just one of their first eight shots. Utah then used an 8-2 run to take an 11-9 lead. Utah led for the remainder of the half, building it to as many as 12. The Utes went into the locker room up 10 (21-31), despite the fact that they were out-shot (45 percent to 33 percent) and out-rebounded (18-15). The difference lay in turnovers, as Utah forced 13 by the Lobos and committed just three.
The Lobos opened the second half with nine straight points in just over two minutes, and holding Utah scoreless for the first 2:27 of the half. It was part of an 18-4 New Mexico run which allowed the Lobos to take a 39-35 lead. Utah cut the lead to one (48-47) on back-to-back three-pointers by Smith and Sitterud. New Mexico then pulled ahead by five on two occasions, but Utah wouldn't give up. Sitterud hit a trey with 31 seconds left to cut the lead to two (54-52).
Point guard Kelsy Stireman fouled New Mexico's Mandi Moore with 26 seconds left, but Moore missed the free throw and the Utes got the rebound. However, on the Utes' next possession, Thorburn launched a pass down court and it went out of bounds. Smith fouled out on the subsequent Lobo possession, sending Lindsey Arndt to the charity stripe, where she made both shots to put New Mexico up 56-52.
Thorburn made a lay-in with nine seconds left on Utah's next possession to bring the score to 56-54. The Utes then immediately fouled New Mexico's Lauren McLeod, who missed the first free throw and made the second. Thorburn then made the tying trey with one second left to send it into overtime.
There was no score for the first two minutes of overtime. Both teams exchanged baskets and turnovers when Thorburn hit another clutch three to put Utah up 62-59. The Utes clinched the game when Stireman got the rebound on a Lobo miss on the next possession and passed the ball to Thorburn, who was immediately fouled and made both free throws with 22 seconds remaining. Though the Lobos scored again with one second left, it was too little too late.
UP NEXT: The Utes travel to Colorado and Wyoming for a pair of games against conference rivals Colorado State and Wyoming. Utah faces CSU at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13, and Wyoming at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15.
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