LA JOLLA, Calif.–UC San Diego women's basketball defeated UC Santa Barbara, 68-58, on Saturday afternoon in LionTree Arena. The Tritons (4-8, 1-1 Big West) improved to 2-4 in the all-time series with the Gauchos (8-4, 1-1 Big West) and earned their first Big West win of the season.
 
Junae Mahan scored a game-high 16 points—a career best for the freshman—adding three rebounds, four assists and three steals. Julia Macabuhay and Emily Cangelosi finished with double-figure points as well with 15 and 14 points respectively. Sydney Brown led the way with a game-high 10 rebounds, while Cangelosi collected six boards and Parker Montgomery added four. Macabuhay also added three assists and two steals in the contest.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams traded a one-point lead to open the contest before the Tritons scored six unanswered to make it 13-8 with 4:20 to play. UC San Diego matched the Gauchos shot for shot down the stretch and took a 18-13 lead into the first quarter break.
 
The Gauchos opened the second period with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to one, but the Tritons extended their lead behind seven points from Montgomery to make it 31-25. Mahan hit a three-pointer at the buzzer and UC San Diego took a 34-28 lead into halftime.
 
The Tritons maintained a six-point advantage midway through the third quarter behind three-point baskets from Brown and Cangelosi. UC Santa Barbara responded with a seven-point run to retake the lead, 42-41, with 2:38 to play in the period. Back-to-back layups by Macabuhay and a three-pointer by Mahan gave the Tritons the slight edge, 48-43, heading into the final quarter break.
 
Mahan scored back-to-back baskets to build the lead back to six early in the fourth quarter, 52-46, but another 7-2 run by the Gauchos made it a one-point game again, 54-53. With under three minutes to play, Macabuhay took control of the game, scoring 12 consecutive points for the Tritons including 6-of-8 from the free throw line to ice the game, 68-58.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Junae Mahan scored a career-high 16 points—her first double-figure scoring effort.
• Three Tritons scored in double figures including Mahan, Cangelosi and Macabuhay.
• The Tritons shot 48.2% from the field compared to 37.7% for the Gauchos. 
• UC San Diego held the advantage in rebounds (36-32), points off of turnovers (16-10), points in the paint (34-16) and fast break points (11-3).
• For the fourth game in a row, UC San Diego starters were Sydney Brown, Emily Cangelosi, Izzy Forsyth, Julia Macabuhay and Parker Montgomery. 

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will travel to face 2021-22 Big West Champion Hawai'i on Jan. 5 at 9 p.m. PT in Manoa, Hawai'i. 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.