ANAHEIM, Calif. ? A very balanced scoring attack led the 10th-ranked UC San Diego women's basketball team to a convincing 69-51 victory over 22nd-ranked Augustana College on Saturday night at the Anaheim Convention Center. The game was being played as part of the second day of the Inaugural Disney West Coast Tip Off Classic.
With the win, UCSD improves to 2-0 on the year and in the tournament while the Vikings drop to 1-1. The Tritons defeated Colorado Christian by a 69-58 score on Friday while Augustana defeated Western Washington by an 83-58 margin on day one.
10 of the 11 Tritons that played in the contest scored, led by Meaghan Noud and Alexis Gaskin who had 15 and 10 points, respectively. Four others scored at least five points, including Laura Moore, who added 10 points and three assists in 17 minutes off the bench. The only player that did not score for the Tritons was freshman Mollie McIntyre as the newcomer only played the final 47 seconds of the game.
Amy Puthoff scored a game-high 24 points in the loss for the Vikings, going 8-for-12 from the floor and grabbing seven rebounds. Ashley Holiday pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds while Hofer added 13 points.
“That was a really good victory against a very good Augustana team,” said first year head coach Charity Elliott. “We improved on the areas where we struggled last night and played very well as a team. We still have plenty of room for improvement, but for being so early in the year, I am pleased with our progress thus far.”
UCSD, which led by as many as 24 points in the second half, shot less than 40% from the floor but made 6-of-13 from long range for a 46.2% mark. The Tritons also forced 23 Augustana turnovers while giving the ball up on only 11 occasions.
The Vikings made only 16 of 44 shots from the floor, including a 2-for-8 performance from long range. The two teams combined for 75 rebounds on the night, 40 of which were grabbed by the Tritons.
Coach Elliott and her squad will conclude play in the season-opening tournament on Sunday afternoon with a 1:30 p.m. matchup with Western Washington. Following that contest, the Tritons will next be in action at the Grand Canyon Classic on November 23rd and 24th in Phoenix, Ariz.
