LA JOLLA, Calif.–UC San Diego women's basketball fell to Long Beach State, 66-52, in the Tritons Big West opener on Thursday evening in LionTree Arena. With the loss, the Tritons (3-8) dropped to 0-5 in the all-time series with the Beach (6-5).
 
Sydney Brown and Parker Montgomery led the Tritons with 11 points each, while Julia Macabuhay and Emily Cangelosi added eight apiece. Brown led the team with six rebounds, and Cangelosi, Izzy Forsyth and Junae Mahan added four each. Mahan tallied a team-best four assists and Brown added three. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons got off to a hot start behind the arc, knocking down 5-of-6 from three-point range to take an early 17-12 lead in the first quarter. The Beach put together a six-point run with two minutes to go to take the lead 20-19, but Macabuhay put up a three in the final seconds and UC San Diego took a 22-20 lead into the first quarter break.
 
Long Beach opened the second quarter with an eight-point run to build its largest lead of the first half, 28-24. The Tritons responded with a 12-2 run of their own to retake the lead and went into the halftime break up, 36-33.
 
It was all LBSU to open the second half, scoring 10 unanswered to take the lead, 43-36. UC San Diego continued to battle but the Beach extended its lead to as many as 10 before heading into the final quarter break up, 53-45. The Tritons committed six turnovers in the period compared to two for LBSU.
 
The Tritons opened the final quarter with a 5-2 run to make it a two-possession game, 55-50, with 6:29 to play. The Beach responded by scoring 11 unanswered points and shutting out UC San Diego for the final six minutes. Forsyth put up one last layup at the buzzer but the Tritons fell, 66-52.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Julia Macabuhay's eight points put her at 1,000 career points in a Triton uniform.
• It was the ninth double-figure scoring effort for Sydney Brown this season.
• The Tritons shot 41.7% from the field and 38.1% from three-point range, compared to 42.6% and 42.9% for LBSU.
• Long Beach State held the advantage in rebounds (36-29), second chance points (17-6), points in the paint (32-22) and points from turnovers (20-11). 
• For the third game in a row, UC San Diego starters were Sydney Brown, Emily Cangelosi, Izzy Forsyth, Julia Macabuhay and Parker Montgomery. 

UP NEXT
The Tritons will host UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. PT in LionTree Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.