U. women are near-unanimous choice

The Mountain West Conference women's basketball predictions are as unexpected as the sun rising in the east — the University of Utah selected as the preseason favorite and Ute standouts Kim Smith and Shona Thorburn tabbed as two of the league's best.

Utah received 23 of the 26 first-place votes and 214 total points in Wednesday's poll of coaches and media.

"We need to keep focus on ourselves, keep doing what we've been doing," said Utah coach Elaine Elliott, who begins her 23rd season having won or shared nine conference titles in 10 years.

New Mexico, which defeated the Utes in the 2005 Mountain West Tournament, was second and conference-newcomer TCU third.

BYU was picked sixth, behind UNLV and CSU.

Elliott lost only one letter-winner — starter Lana Sitterud, the MWC defensive player of the year — from last year's 26-8 team that tied for first in the league's regular season and upset No. 19 Iowa State in the NCAAs before falling to top-ranked Stanford.

"We were in a good place at the end of last year," said Elliott. "We just need to build on that and keep getting better."

A three-time honorable mention all-American and three-time MWC player of the year, Smith — named the league's top returning player — returns for her senior season after averaging 17.8 points and 8.9 rebounds a game.

Thorburn averaged 14.9 points, 6.5 assists and 6.2 rebounds a game, sharing player-of-the-year honors with Smith. The senior guard joins her fellow Canadian on the preseason all-conference team.

"We're friends off the court, so it's good sharing the experiences on the court," Smith said.

And Thorburn sees unfinished business. "We've never won a conference tournament, we've never won at The Pit," she said of her U. tenure. "Those are a couple of team goals."

So what will Elliott do next year without her dynamic duo? "I'll cry, while everybody else (in the conference) smiles," she said.

Headlining the rest of Utah's returnees are starting sophomore frontliners Deanne Hanchett and Jessica Perry and senior sharpshooter Julie Larsen.

Jeff Judkins enters his fifth season at BYU on the heels of a 19-11 year that ended with losses to Utah in the MWC Tournament semifinals and to Gonzaga in the Women's NIT.