HONOLULU, Hawaii – The No. 14 University of California San Diego women's basketball team defeated No. 11 Minnesota State Moorhead, 60-54, as it opened play at the Malika Sports Tours Oahu Thanksgiving Classic this afternoon. The Tritons improve to 5-1 overall with the win, handing the Dragons their second loss of the season as they fall to 6-2. This was the first meeting between the two programs.
UC San Diego opened the afternoon's scoring and never trailed the Dragons in the first 20 minutes of play. Leading 14-10 after the first quarter, the Tritons extended their lead during the early minutes of the second quarter, with a 10-point advantage at 5:52 for their largest lead of the opening two periods. The Dragons pulled within three though, as UC San Diego entered halftime with a 32-29 lead.
The Tritons briefly surrendered the lead towards the start of the third quarter, but were dominant in the final five minutes as they went on an eight-point run without allowing a single Dragon basket.
After the Tritons kept the momentum going at the start of the fourth quarter, the Dragons began to cut down the Tritons' lead in the latter half of the final quarter. Minnesota State Moorhead pulled within two with a little over a minute to go, but the Tritons' success at the free throw line helped them maintain their lead and clinch their victory.
Brianna Claros and
Julia Macabuhay tied for a team-high 14 points. Both were perfect at the line, as the Tritons finished the day 12-for-13 in free throw attempts.
Sydney Brown was the Tritons' rebound leader on the afternoon, collecting seven boards while also contributing seven points.
UC San Diego will return to action tomorrow afternoon for the conclusion of the Malika Sports Tours Oahu Thanksgiving Classic. The Tritons will face Hawaii Pacific (RV) at 4 p.m.
About UC San Diego Athletics
With 30 national team championships, nearly 150 individual titles and the top student-athlete graduation rate among Division II institutions in the United States, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program annually ranks as one of the most successful in the country. The Tritons sponsor 23 intercollegiate sport programs that compete on the NCAA Division I and II levels and, in summer 2020, will transition into full Division I status as a member of the Big West Conference. UC San Diego student-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent. A total of 82 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. In competition, more than 1,300 UC San Diego student-athletes have earned All-America honors.
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