| OCR Text |
Show Chronicle Page Fourteen Wednesday, January 11, 1989 PORT Ladly Ufte becomes leading scomv Rutwin' Ute Stats Hoopster now aides team after sitting out first 7 By Loren Jorgensen Chronicle sports writer Smith gible to play Smith enjoyed V 4 V ,v fa v eli- when autumn quarter ended. Sitting out during the first seven games wasn't easy for the Huntington Beach, Calif., native. "It was terrible," Smith said. "I knew what was going on because I was able to practice with the team, but I wasn't able to do anything about what happened in the game." I SJngtetwy Confer. Grant Confer. Lenoir Confer. Wetfe athletics, n't necessarily come bloodlines. through all-leag- ue all four years at Edison. As one might expect, against Houston. Since with those credentials then the forward has become the team's top Smith was highly recruit- scorer with a 15.7 average, while shooting 61 percent from the field and pulling ed out of high school. mi iiiin down 5.1 rebounds per Among the schools show-- . ing the interest were New Mexico State, Hawaii, and in addition to USC BYU, game. All this while averaging just 22 minutes per Cal-Berkel- ey Utah. "It was a tough decision. My dad kinda wanted me to go to USC, but I wanted go out of state. I Utah's Kristi Smith has been a pleasant surprise, for Lady Ute Coach Elaine Elliott. Smith is averaging 15.7 points a game coming off the bench for the 10-- 4 Utes. liked Utah. Miked the team and the coaches," Kristi explained. "I'm happy with my decision. I really enjoy it here." Especially if she's playing for the Lady Utes, and not just spectating. FT-fT- t7-t- 7 0M77-51.- 4 $MXS.O 181 2-- 0 18-2-$ 0 J 77 19 6 16 17-1- 3 145 22 18 55-- 1 17-1- 5 242.6 139 2--2 Brooks 14 Chapman Confer. 17-- 4 14 .0 3.7 106 19 2-- 2 21 Perkins CO J) -1 10-- 4 2-- 843 24 16-- 4 Confer. Confer. A- 2--2 Van Cray Hansen 104 .1 .0 5 6 2S-37-- 83 3 2-- 0 61 13-- 1 2--1 .0 13 64 17-- 2 Confer. 2-- 0 2 Monson 8-- 0 16 Christens) 8--0 Sampson 6-- 0 7 f -3 1 The University of Utah basketball team, coming off conference losses at UTEP and New Mexico last weekend, will host Hawaii and San Deigo State Thursday and Saturday at the Huntsman Center. The 8 Utes overcame a slow start, winning eight of their last nine games, but 9-- player-of-the-yea- Kristi came off the bench 22 to score a career-hig- h points in a road loss FG-fQA-- 17-1-6 although her interest does- IE fibfiS 17-- 9 Confer. always explaining how she first became involved in basketball. "I was tall and so I didn't do too bad and I just kept with it." Smith kept with it enough to have an outstanding career at Edison High in Huntington Beach. Kristi was the 1987 CLE r, twice first team all:C.I.F. and was first team Smith didn't waste any time making her presence felt. In her first game, sive spark. Elliott is satisfied with Confer. playing," Kristi said, After becoming eligible, contest, which is barely half the game. It could be said that Smith is to the Lady Utes what Thurl Bailey is to the Jazz. While Kristi has yet to start, she is counted on to come off the bench to give the team an offen- has UadiMfl "Nobody in my family is really athletic. I'm the only one who really plays a lot of sports," Smith said. "I just saw all the boys playing on the playground, and so I started hadn't. However, she became Confer. Lindsay and Stephie Watrin, with Smith coming off the bench. 'It seems to be working well. They Ret about the same amount of playing time anyway," Elliott said, "(Kristi) definitely has good offensive skills. When she comes into a game it gives us a step up in intensity and a little scoring punch," continued Elliott, whose team is presently 10-- 4 on the year. While Elliott is pleased with the play of her talented sophomore, she always sees room for improvement, "Kristi still has some things to learn on defense," Elliott commented. "But it seems like every time she makes a ath- letes to complete at least 36 hours of credit per year. Smith the starting front court of Brenda Alcorn, Cindy For the first seven games of the season, Kristi Smith was relegated to being a spectator at Lady Ute basket- ball games. During the last seven games, Smith has done much more than just spectate. The sophomore forward has been Utah's leading scorer, had the team's best field goal percentage and has grabbed an average of more than five rebounds per game. Its good to have Kristi back on the floor, Lady Ute Coach Elaine Elliott understated. Smith missed the opening games of the season because of an NCAA regu- lation that requires Eta pre-conferen- ce lost easily in both of their games in the Southwest. As a team, Utah is shooting 46 percent from the field while holding its opponents to only 44 percent. Boo Singletary leads the team in field goal percentage shooting, hitting on 65 percent of his shots. Mitch Smith, the WACs leading rebounder a year ago, leads the Utes on the boards, averaging 9.5 per game, Freshman Josh Grant has also been a steady performer, averaging seven rebounds and nine points per outing. Utah continues to struggle from three-poirange, connecting on only 32 percent of its tries for the season. Last weekend the Utes shot a miserable 17 percent from long distance, hitting only four of their 23 attempts. Utah's twoopponents this week both shoot the ball well. The Rainbows have connected on 50 nt percent of .their field goal attempts while the Aztecs have sizzled, to a 53 percent mark from the field. Kent Condon Dirk Facer It may be early but Opinions, thoughts and feelings are a part of every sports fan. Whether it be in an arena or in front of tne TV, everyone seems to have a favorite team to cheer for and an opinion on most every issue in the sports world. However, just like the popular dandruff commercial that boldly declares, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression," sports fans are as' quick as anyone to make the mistake of judging first and hearing the facts later. So in this tradition, the following "hot" topics will be explored at the level of a first impression. It may be early but ... it appears that the Runnin' Utes enjoy walking the ball up the floor more often than they do running it. This decision has left many d loyal Utah boosters wondering if the Utes' NIT game will be at home or on the road in such exotic locales as Boise, Idaho or Evansville, Ind. It may be early but ... it appears that Jose Ortiz is about as valuable to the Utah Jazz as a bad rash is to a street walker. Not only has the rookie from Oregon State failed to earn some quality time since losing his starting role to Marc Iavaroni, but his performance thus far has left many people wondering if he was first-roun- fans just love first impressions . . . worth all the trouble to sign. The answer here is yes, almost anybody would be cheaper to feed than the "Mealman" Mel Turpin. ' . It may be early but . .'. it appears that the Boston Celtics are about as talented as the Golden State Warriors without Larry Bird. Since the "hick from French Lick" left the team for surgery on his ankles and feet after playing in only six games, the Celts are currently 6 overall. The lowly but improving Warriors are now It may be early but . . . it appears that "Iron" Mike Tyson has turned into a wimp. The undisputed heavyweight champion seems to enjoy fighting girls more than he does men. In recent months, the only with the champ is his person to go once-powerf- ul 15-1- 13-1- 6. toe-to-t- oe . ife Robin Givens. It may be early but ... it appears that San Diego is the place to play if you're a major leaguer. Big bucks are flowing in the Padre organization, just ask Jack Clark, Bruce Hurst and possibly Dale Murphy. It also appears that Atlanta is the place to go if you're an old washed-u- p Darrell major leaguer. Just ask 41 year-old Evans who recently joined the lowly Braves to aid a -- ; youth movement. It may be early but . . . it appears that the baseball Hall of Fame selection committee plays favorites. How else could they overlook such talented players as Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins and Jim Bunning in their recent vote. Plus, how could they overlook Roger Maris, who is no longer eligible for consideration after being refuted for years by the writers? Maris holds the major league record for home runs in a season with 61. It may be early but . . . it once again appears that most of the good teams in college basketball are back East. In the most recent AP and UPI polls, the only teams ranked in the top 20 west of Oklahoma are UNLV, Arizona and UTEP. Looks like the NIT field will be loaded with lots of western teams again this year. It may be early but . . . it appears that Utah has become the dominant sports school in the Beehive State. After beating both BYU and Utah State in football, the Utes already own basketball victories over Weber State and Utah State (twice). ' . But that's just my opinion and the only one I care ' about! ' : . . |
