MANOA, Hawai'i–UC San Diego women's basketball erased an 18-point deficit to defeat Hawai'i, 60-57, on Thursday evening in the Stan Sheriff Center. The Tritons (5-8, 2-1 Big West) improved to 3-0 in the all-time series with the Rainbow Wahine (4-8, 2-1 Big West) in the dramatic comeback victory.
Sydney Brown recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with a team-high 18 points, 13 rebounds and adding three blocked shots.
Julia Macabuhay also finished in double-figures with 11 points and
Bridget Mullings chipped in 10.
Emily Cangelosi added eight rebounds and a team-high two steals, while
Courtni Thompson led the Tritons with three assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons got off to a slow start, going 1-for-10 in the opening five minutes of play to trail 8-2 at the first media timeout. UC San Diego went on a seven-point run in the final two minutes to close out the quarter and take a 12-11 lead into the break.
The Bows answered with 17-0 run to open the second quarter and take back the lead, 28-12. UH extended its lead to as many as 18 before the Tritons closed out the period with a six-point run to make it 20-32 at the halftime break. UC San Diego shot 21.7 percent from the field in the first half, going 3-for-12 from three-point range.
The Tritons opened the second half with a 15-4 run behind three three-pointers from Brown to cut the deficit to one, 35-36. Back-to-back baskets from Brown and Mullings gave UC San Diego its first lead since the first quarter, 39-38, with 1:51 remaining in the period. UH held the slight edge at the final quarter break, 43-41, but the Tritons had all the momentum, outscoring the Bows, 21-11, in the period.
Macabuhay took control in the fourth quarter, scoring all 11 of her points in the period. Hawai'i extended its lead back to four, before Macabuhay hit back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 52-all with 4:38 to play. A minute later a clutch three-pointer from Macabuhay put UC San Diego on top for good and tough defense from the Tritons held UH to 1-of-7 from the field in the final five minutes to seal the victory, 60-57.
QUOTABLE
"It was a great team win for us," said head coach
Heidi VanDerveer. "I'm very proud of our effort to regroup and refocus in the second half. Everyone contributed, our team stuck together and our bench energy was great. Happy for our team to get this win."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Sydney Brown recorded her second double-double of the season and her 10th double-figure scoring effort.
- UC San Diego outscored the Rainbow Wahine, 40-24, in the second half and shot 51.7% from the field.
- The Tritons held the advantage in field goal percentage (38.5% to 32.8%) and rebounds (42-30).
- Hawai'i held the edge in points off of turnovers (16-4), second chance points (8-3) and points in the paint (18-16).
- The Tritons move to 3-0 in the all-time series with Hawai'i.
- UC San Diego starters were Sydney Brown, Emily Cangelosi, Izzy Forsyth, Julia Macabuhay and Parker Montgomery.
UP NEXT
The Tritons will travel to face UC Riverside in a midweek matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. before returning home to host CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m. The games 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.
