SAN FRANCISCO - The UC San Diego women's basketball team defeated San Francisco State, 76-65, in a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) matchup on Friday at The Swamp. The Tritons outrebounded the Gators, 32-23, including 15-8 on the offensive glass, and shot 9-14 from the free throw line while SFSU only made three of four attempts from the charity stripe.
With the win, UCSD improves to 13-9 overall and 11-6 in the CCAA. The Gators remain winless on the year at 0-21 overall and 0-17 in the conference.
The Tritons quickly fell behind to SFSU to start the game, 5-0. The Gators got their biggest lead of the game, 13-7, when Brittany Allison hit a three-point basket with 14:32 left in the first half.
UCSD answered back and tied the contest at 15-15 after a McKennan Bertsch layup. A pair of Farrah Shokoor free throws gave the Tritons their biggest lead of the first, an eight-point advantage, 29-21.
SFSU would go on a 17-6 run, capped off by a Michelle Sutton three-pointer, to lead UCSD 38-35 with 10 seconds left in the period. In the closing seconds of the half, Shokoor was able to get the offensive rebound and tip-in a Cassie MacLeod miss to go into halftime trailing, 38-37.
The two schools battled back-and-forth to start the second half as there was five lead changes and three ties in the first 10 minutes of the period. With 9:50 remaining in the game, Miranda Seto would hit a mid-range jumper to give the Tritons the lead for good, 55-53.
UCSD opened up a seven-point lead, 65-58, after MacLeod found Taylor Tanita for her second of three baskets from behind the arc on the night. The Tritons got their biggest of the game, 74-62, after a Bertsch layup with 2:22 left as they cruised the rest of the way for the victory.
"This was a great win for our team," said UCSD head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "We got out in transition. I thought that Taylor Tanita came in (off the bench) and did a great job with the tempo. We competed down the stretch and got a really good win for our team."
Bertsch led UCSD with a team-high 14 points on 58.3 percent (7-12) shooting. Shokoor narrowly came away with another double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Tritons got nice performances off the bench as Dana Webster, Tanita and Jamie Katuna scored 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Sutton and Allison led the Gators with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
UCSD will continue its road trip at Sonoma State on Saturday, Feb. 14. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.
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