Historic win over Rebels for No. 19 Utes

After Wednesday's 75-64 win over UNLV, Utah coach Elaine Elliott told the Huntsman Center crowd "they saw some incredible history."

Her remarks came in the midst of a postgame ceremony honoring record-setting seniors Kim Smith and Shona Thorburn.

Smith, the program's career scoring leader, added 26 more points to her tally in leading the 19th-ranked Utes to their seventh consecutive victory. It came on a night when Thorburn became the team's all-time leader in assists.

Both players received game balls and a bouquet of flowers for their accomplishments in a brief presentation after the game.

Thorburn wound up nine assists while directing a balanced attack. Julie Larsen scored 16 points and Heidi Carlsen added 14 as the Utes reached the 20-win plateau for the 17th time in 23 seasons under Elliott.

Utah (20-5, 11-3) opened the game with a 17-6 run as Smith scored 10 of her points.

"We've done that recently. I love the way that we started," Elliott said. "I think that our interest and our passion for playing has been intense and better in the last six weeks."

The most recent outburst allowed the Utes to overcome an early 2-0 deficit — the only time they trailed UNLV in two meetings this season.

Smith had 16 points by halftime as Utah extended its lead to 39-24. Larsen and Carlsen added eight and seven, respectively, as the Utes made 15-of-29 shots (51.7 percent) from the floor to pull away comfortably.

Thorburn had six assists at the break, including a record-setting pass to Morgan Warburton midway through the half. The connection moved Thorburn ahead of Alli Bills on Utah's career assists list. Bills, who played for the Utes from 1994-98, held the school-record with 612.

"When I look back I think it'll be something real cool," Thorburn said. "I'm definitely proud of it."

Thorburn finished with only six points, but four came in a timely fashion. After UNLV made things interesting in the second half — eventually pulling to within four points with 15 minutes remaining — Thorburn made a basket and two free throws in an 8-0 spurt that restored a double-digit lead for Utah down the stretch.

It proved necessary as the Rebels (15-9, 7-6) proved to be pesky the rest of the way. UNLV chipped at the deficit down the stretch and wound up outrebounding Utah 39-26.

"Vegas is talented and they can get it done," said Elliott, who acknowledged the Utes were tired by game's end. "I'm glad we just kind of gutted that out."

The Utes, who have a bye this weekend, return to action March 2 at home against TCU. They'll close out the regular season March 4 at Wyoming.

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