Game #36 vs. Utah (Elite 8)

First the bad news, yes several players on the team have a stomach virus. From reading various boards it seems as if it may only be a 24 hour thing and that right now there are three starters that are unaffected by it. Who knows what happens when they wake up today and how they are feeling. If we see Charmaine, Angel and/or Aurelie on the court with the other 3 when the game starts then we know we have problems. I will try to keep you updated.

Now onto the matter at hand. Making the Final Four. Utah comes into the game at 27-6 and riding a 7-game winning streak. Our common opponents have been BC, NC State, Arizona and Gonzaga and they went 4-0 against them. They are a slow grind it out offensive team, much like Wake. They want to get you in their halfcourt set and then use a variety of screens and ball movement to find the open person. Defensively they play man-to-man (at least that's what they did against BC) One thing to note is that they were exhausted at the end of the BC game on Saturday. Neither team scored a bucket in the final 4 minutes of the game. Who knows how our sickness factors in and if Utah has decide to hydrate itself at this point in the game. Also, the New Mexico fans will probably be cheering for the underdog Utes since they are from the same conference.

Looking at their roster you see they have a lot of height, but of the 6-3 or taller players only Perry sees a ton of minutes. We should have a height advantage like we had had the first 3 games.

Like I said, they like to slow down the game and it shows in their stats. They are averaging 69.3 ppg, while allowing only 55.6. They taken 1832 shots so far this year, compared to the 2177 we have shot, which indicates how slow they play. They love to shoot the 3 as they have taken 642 of them, but only made 230. (We have made 202 of 494.) They are only averaging 37.5 rebounds per game and only out rebound their opponents by 4. They also don't seem like a good shot blocking team with only 91 on the season.

Their best player is Kim Smith, she's a 6-1 forward who does it all for them and can shoot from anywhere on the court and attacks the glass. Think of her like Wake Forest's Liz Strunk. Their next best player is Shona Thornburn, 5-10 guard who runs the point. She's a converted point-guard who can also shoot. She also rebounds. The team of them are the keys to the team and also like to take it to the hole as evidenced by them each shooting 150 free throws this year. After that's there's 5-4 guard Julie Larsen who shoots 50% from 3. That's basically all she does is get open and shoot away. Perry is a rebounder, but only grabs 5.0 per game.

Keys to the Game

Obviously it's to be healthy.

Limit their three-point shots. We must go in front of screens and not behind them. We must not leave them open and we must put a hand in their face. To quote Norman Dale "I want to know the flavor of gum they are chewing"

Don't fall for their pump fakes. BC was so stupid the other night that anytime Utah went to shoot they bit on it and then Utah took a dribble and had a wide open shot at the basket.

Establish the inside presence. It's time for Crystal to get 30 again.

Limit Utah's opportunities. Rebounds for them mean chances to pass it to the outside and hit a 3.

Run when we have the chance. I know they are all tired and dehyrdated, but it's time to step up and worry about rest tomorrow. Don't show up to play and you have until November to rest.

Be ready for the double team. Utah is going to double team Crystal so she has to be smart and get it to our shooters.

Our shooters must be ready. Shay came here to lead us to the Final Four. Today we find out if she can do it when it matters the most.

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