The backbone of the young University of Utah women's basketball team that lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to No. 1-ranked Duke in March — freshman Kim Smith and sophomore Shona Thorburn — is trying out for the Canadian National Team.
Thorburn, a guard, has played 33 games and Smith, a forward, 26 for the Canadian team in years past, and they are among 20 players trying out June 7 and 8 for the 2003 team. That is the tipoff as Canada begins summer training schedule that it hopes will lead to qualification for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The Canadians will play in the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament in Culiacan, Mexico, in late September, hoping to grab the only qualifying spot still available.
The team will train until late July and then participate in the Pan American Games Aug. 1-9 in Santo Domingo.
Utah defeated DePaul 73-64 in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., on March 23 but fell 65-54 to top-ranked Duke on March 25.
Against DePaul, Smith, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year and a first-team Freshman All-American, made 11 of 16 shots and 10 of 12 free throws for 35 points. Against Duke, she scored 20. She averaged 17.4 and 6.4 rebounds for the season. Thorburn had 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the win over DePaul and added 12 points, six rebounds and five assists against Duke.