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Show SPORTS I'M, I 12 THURSDAY 311 Daily Utah Chronicle Onest ep c lose r to the crow n Tye Smith Sports Writer U basketball star Kim Smith, named MWC Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, made a statement Wednesday night. In the Utes' d game of the MWC Tourney, Smith delivered a second half to lead her team to a 68-5- 1 victory against San Diego State. A "cutter and slasher," Smith wasn't limited to just layups in her season-hig- h 28 point performance. She was three of four from beyond the three point arc, and her range had never been better. Smith added zn rebounds in the game to cap off her eighth double double of the year. Sophomore Shona Thorburn got hot in the final minutes of the game, making her last three shots to finish with 11 points. Not only did she help drive in ' v the final dagger, but her seven rebounds and five assists were key in maintaining a lead for the U throughout the game. Marshall Senior Carlcy played an important role, contributing 11 points, while junior Lana Sitterud, although cold from the floor, crashed the boards with tenacity, grabbing four offensive rebounds. The story of the game ultimately came down to rebounding. The U retrieved 41 rebounds in the game, while the Aztecs found their way to only 19 rebounds. With second chance opportunities and f Yj-strong defensive stands, the Utes overpowered and outhus-tle- d the inexperienced SDSU 'players. The game was closer than the Utes' might have hoped. Aztec shooting guard Courtney Fritz delivered a second consecutive outstanding perI formance against the U, scor, , ing 17 points after coming off the bench. Sophomore Ashley Dunlap added nine points in the second half alone to keep : the game from getting out of ! reach until the final minutes of the game. second This marked the C 1 time the two teams faced each other in the last five days, playing against each other in the Huntsman Center last weekend in the final regular season game of the year. The rapidly V improving, young Aztec squad 'A art had never won a conference tournament game, but after giving the Utes a scare in the Huntsman Center, it seemed that anything could happen But the Utes took care of L MWC Player of the Year Kim Smith scored 20 points in the second half as the Utes rolled past San business. tsmithchronicle. utah.edu advance to the second round, where they will play UNLV. first-roun- Diver hopes to make splash at regionals Matthew Ouellette Sports Writer U diver Sterling Richards is in Oklahoma City today, where he will begin competition at the NCAA Diving Regional Qualifiers. For Richards, it is a return to the site where he won the dive at the MWC Championships, and U diving coach Rachel Degener hopes Richards' success at the Aquatic Center in Oklahoma City will repeat itself. "The fact that he's competing in the same place he competed in at regionals is a big help," U diving coach Rachel Degener said. "He the last time won the he was here, and we like his chances to do the same this weekend." Richards qualified for regionals on the strength of an outstanding season, where he consistently dominated the competition in the conference. He finished first in the 3 meter and second in the at the MWC championships, and as a result he was named the MWC diver of the year. He was also named MWC diver of the week three times. All of this success occurred after Richards missed the first month of the season with a knee injury. "Since Sterling has come back from his injury, he's 'i. v t? - 'm' k ( been the dominant leader of - ; t Diego State Wednesday night 68-5- 1 to Do or die for the Utes in Denver wm "i J J 11.J111IU yuii iur vM- M.II1WI w .1. - Jlimiaii,. .iu J..IJJI-- K " V tl K i w, Asad Kudiya Sports Editor '"I Play every game like it's your last. For the U basketball team, this statement may just be true, since one loss would probably mean the Utes would miss out on the NCAA tournament. The road to the MWC Championship for the Utes will probably have to go through BYU and Air Force, but first Utah will have to deal with San Diego State in the opening round. Not only will this be third time the Utes are facing the Aztecs, but it will also be the second consecutive game, as the Utes defeated the Aztecs 66-5- 3 in the season finale. San Diego State is on a three game losing streak after losing at home to Utah by 13 points, and is looking to d win the matchup against the Utes. "I am firmly of the opinion that we are going to play exceptionally good basketball against Utah and, if we do that, we'll have a great opportunity to win," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. Although the Utes won by a considerable margin on the road, the Aztecs came close to downing the Utes in the Huntsman Center. But the main difference in the two games was the guard play for the Aztecs. Even though the two guards, Wesley Stokes and Brandon Heath, did not shoot well in the first matchup between the two teams, they both first-roun- "if " il " O: v r- - . Andrew Bogut drives through Center in Provo. ": BYU i forward Jared Jensen last Monday at the Marriott MEN'S HOOPS TRACK UTAH vs. (21-- 9-- SDSU (14-- 5-- March II, 2004 pm 1 Denver, Colo. , "V scored in double figures. In the season finale, Heath finished with eight points while Stokes had five. The leading scorer on the team, Aerick Sanders, was on fire in the season finale, but foul trouble really hurt the big man and his team. "We were down one point when Aerick went to the bench with his third foul with 4:30 to go in the first half, and they went on runs of 0 2 and to finish the half," Fisher said. Sanders finished the game with 20 points and 12 rebounds, but his effort was offset by the play of Ute senior Tim Frost. Frost finished the game with 19 points, shooting 8 of-1-0 from the field. Frost and freshman Andrew Bogut pose the biggest threat because of the lack of size on the Aztec front line. "We have to get them out of position early," Sanders said. "They are bigger than us, so we have to move them off the block immediately. In the game, sometimes we settled just playing behind them instead of attempting to front, which was the game plan. I think after we see on tape how our defensive rotation was late, and our help-sid- e defense was late, that we will recognize that those little things will be the difference in winning and losing." The fact that the two teams are play-SE- E SWIMMING AND DIVING 9-- HOOPS PAGE 14 this team, from the locker room to the standings," Degener said. "He's put an outstanding season together and we hope he can build on that this weekend," he added. There are approximately 24 divers competing in Oklahoma City this weekend, and the top seven will qualify: the top two in the platform, the top two in the 1 meter, and the top three in the 3 meter. This configuration bodes well for Richards, whose spedive. cialty is the "We feel his chances are really good," Degener said. "Last year, two divers from the MWC qualified for nationals, and Sterling beat both of them twice this year." The divers to which Degener is referring are Justin Beardall and Scott Randall of BYU. Although Richards did defeat Beardall twice in the Beardall returned the favor in the so the competition between the two is very close. Randall isn't far behind the two, as he finished first in the platform and third in both the - and 3 meter springboards. BYU has certainly supplied plenty of competition for Richards, but Cougar diving coach Keith Russell may also have provided Richards with some motivation. "Although we will be competing against divers from the MWC, our main competition will come from the Pac-10- ," Russell said. The only other diver attending from the MWC is Adam Miller of Wyoming, who was named MWC diver of the week three times this season. Whether or not the comment was intended to take a shot at Richards is unclear, but either way it gives Richards plenty to prove. Regardless of the potential extra fire that the comment made, Richards already has enough incentive to compete well and qualifying at the regionals will quench his thirst. mouellette chronicle.utah.edu WOMEN'S HOOPS BASEBALL UTAH at UTAH at UTAH vs. (23-6- ) UTAH vs. (4-8- ) MWC CHAMPIONSHIPS MWC REGIONAL UNLV (22-6- ) PACIFIC (9-6- ) March 2004 all day Fayetteville, Ark. II, March 11, 2004 all day Oklahoma City, Okla. March 12, 2004 2:30 pm Denver, Colo. March 12, 2004 1 pm Stockton, Calif. |