U. seniors not ready to call it quits

TUCSON, Ariz., — Utah's three seniors, Kim Smith, Shona Thorburn and Julie Larsen, played as if it might be their final game and as a result they'll get to play another game later this week.

Smith, Thorburn and Larsen outscored the Sun Devils all by themselves with 68 points in Utah's 86-65 victory Monday night at the McKale Center.

"They handled it extremely well," said Ute coach Elaine Elliott. "They play for the love of the game and are not thinking about it as some legacy sort of thing."

The Ute seniors just keep climbing the charts in the Ute record books. Smith, who is Utah's all-time leading scorer as well as the top scorer in Mountain West Conference history, now has 2,257 points points.

Thorburn moved into fifth place on the scoring list in Utah's win over Middle Tennessee State and with 24 points Monday now has 1,716 points. She is also No. 1 in assists in Utah and MWC history and with 11, increasing her career total to 680.

WARBURTON BACK: Ute freshman Morgan Warburton, who nearly lost her two front teeth in the Middle Tennessee State game Saturday, played with a protective mouthguard Monday night and it didn't seem to affect her game at all.

Warburton played 17 minutes off the bench finishing with two points, two rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal.

The Utes only other reserve was freshman Joh-Teena Filipe, who had five points, five rebounds and three steals in 23 minutes.

IRON-WOMEN: While the Utes played just seven players, with Smith and Thorburn going the full 40 minutes, the Sun Devils countered with 11 players, only one of whom played more than 30 minutes.

The Sun Devils came at the Utes in waves, twice replacing all five players at the same time. In fact, after the Sun Devils raced out to a 7-0 lead, coach Charli Turner Thorne inserted four new players into the lineup with 17:34 left in the first half.

As for her lack of substitutions, coach Elaine Elliott said"it wasn't a factor tonight." She acknowledged that she always plays Smith and Thorburn a lot of minutes.

"Everyone else rotates quite a bit," she said. "It's the makeup of the team right now. Kim and Shona usually get their rest between games."

MWC SHINES: In the first game Monday at the McKale Center, defending national champion Baylor eliminated New Mexico of the Mountain West Conference 87-67.