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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2006

DENVER, COLORADO

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started. We'll begin with University of Utah head coach, Elaine Elliott, Kim Smith and Shona Thorburn.
Let's begin with some general comments from Coach Elliott and then we'll open it up to questions for the players, then finish up with questions for coach.
COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT: Well, I just love what's happened to Air Force. I think Ardie has done a great job. Their team is young, yet competing. The future's bright. Gone are the days when that's anybody's automatic win.
I just think they play hard, smart. She's got some nice kids. That was a good game.
THE MODERATOR: At this point we'll open it up for questions directed to the student-athletes.
Q. Alluding to what your coach just said, could you talk about the progress of the Air Force program over the past few years? I can remember a time when this would have been a 55-point game.
KIM SMITH: Yeah, I think in our freshman year, you know, it wasn't as much of a game. It wasn't because they would ever stop competing. They've always been a very tough team, always fought very hard until the end.
They just have some really good players. They're really starting to work together. It is a tough team and you have to come ready to play every time you play them.
SHONA THORBURN: Yeah, you know, like every team in the conference, we have a lot of respect for them. You have to have respect going in or you're going to be on the losing end against a team like them because they never give up.
Their talent, just their overall play, we've been here four years now, has just improved greatly.
Q. You survived a scoreless stretch there towards the end of the first half. Was that more Air Force doing something to stop you or was that a Utah thing? What was going on there?
KIM SMITH: You know, I think it kind of happens in every game. You'll go through a stretch where people just aren't hitting shots. Unfortunately, it was all five of us not hitting shots.
I mean, if you watched it, we had a couple layups, even rollouts. It's just kind of in the flow of the game. Whether it was them or us, I'm not really sure.
Q. Your thoughts on a potential match-up with New Mexico in the next round.
COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT: We're not talking about who we're playing till we know who we're playing.
Q. How significant was your finish at the half with an 8-R-0 run?
SHONA THORBURN: Definitely momentum going into the locker room. This game is a momentum game. I think we did a good job of carrying that over into the second half and competing.
THE MODERATOR: Ladies, we'll let you go. Questions directed to Coach Elliott.
Q. Obviously Air Force has better players than they did, but what specifically are they doing better than in past years?
COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT: Well, they have better players. That's always a great job. She put together a great freshman class a year ago. Those are the kids. There's at least four of them, if I'm not mistaken, Castillo, Jaeschke, Findlay. It's just a great class. That's how you get it done.
You get a class of kids or a couple, two kids that you really can then build around. She's done that with those kids. That sophomore class is just more talented. They've won more games because of it. There's no secret. It's about the players.
Q. Can you talk about your defense. It's always been the strength of your team. Seemed like early in the game you had a lot of turnovers. Talk about the significance of that.
COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT: Well, you know, you just have to remember what that does to a game, to put your efforts into the defensive end of the floor. I wish I could say that we never lacked in that, but we did.
Trying to keep that focus is really important. It just dictates so much about what happens on the floor, if your kids will play intensely and aggressively at the defensive end.
Q. Can you talk a little about what Kim Smith has meant to you, particularly this year down the stretch, her scoring has picked up in conference play? What does she do for your team and how important is it for her to perform at this level?
COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT: Well, yeah, she's extremely important. She's been so consistent, it's really been phenomenal. Kids feed off that. They get comfortable when she's comfortable.
There's so many "kudos" to her, I just can't talk. I've been coaching a long, long time, and have never had a player play with the intensity and commitment and relentlessness that she plays with. She deserves everything she's gotten.
Q. If she happens to have an off game or off stretch, is it tough for the other players to rally around? How do you keep that continuity going? They almost watch her play at times.
COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT: That's true. You have to deal with that. You have to make sure that people -- that your kids aren't standing, watching. We have to deal with that. We sometimes get stagnant. Kids just aren't playing aggressive around her.
It's just something that we are aware of. We try to address it as best we can. Our kids have had a good season and there's been a good support group around here. She hasn't done it all alone. She'd be the first to tell you that. Yet what a kid like that means as your center and your core is obviously undeniable.
Q. Do you like the way your team is playing right now? What could you be doing better at this stage?
COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT: Well, I just think as a coach, every game I think you look at, you know, you never feel like you had 40 minutes of all the things you wanted. Even if there's one defensive breakdown, one rotation somebody misses, a block-out. It's like any game, we had our ups and downs. In terms of the season itself, I do think we've grown, I do think that we are, you know, in the best place we could be for now.
I mean, I think that we kind of have attended to that. I give credit to the kids for moving forward, playing our better basketball at the end of league play, without a doubt.
Q. You had a young player step up in the second half there, Sasha, and was 3-3 from the three-point line. Is that nice to see from a young player in a big game?
COACH ELAINE ELLIOTT: It is. It's especially important if your starting kids are struggling from there, which they are. Heidi and Julie didn't get much to fall tonight. Sasha got a few -- the second half of the season, we've gotten her more game time. Tonight was a nice comfortable feel for her, I think.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

End of FastScripts...

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