MORAGA, Calif.—Despite an impressive fourth quarter comeback, UC San Diego women's basketball fell to Saint Mary's in overtime, 61-58, on Sunday afternoon in University Credit Union Pavilion. The Tritons (1-2) outscored the Gaels (1-1), 21-11, in the fourth quarter but were unable to come away with the victory, falling to 0-2 in the all-time series.
 
Four Tritons finished in double figures, led by Sumayah Sugapong with 17 points. Izzy Forsyth, Parker Montgomery and Rosa Smith chipped in 10 points apiece. Katie Springs led the Tritons in rebounding for the third straight game with 10 boards. Montgomery, Smith and Eri Blithikioti each collected two assists in the contest. Sugapong and Gracie Gallegos collected three steals each, while Springs added two. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego got off to a strong start, taking an early 8-4 lead midway through the the opening quarter. The Tritons maintained a one-score advantage through much of the period before extending their lead back to four points, 13-9, on a steal and score by Sugapong with 12 seconds on the clock. SMC answered with a three at the buzzer to make it 13-12, Tritons, at the first quarter break.
 
Saint Mary's put up back-to-back layups to open the second period and take the lead, 16-13. UC San Diego responded with a four-point scoring run on a Sugapong three and 2-for-2 at the free throw line from Gallegos to retake the lead, 18-16. The Gaels then put together an 11-2 scoring run to build the largest lead for either team in the half, 27-20. With three minutes remaining, Pinto sank a midrange jumper and Sugapong hit another three to cut the deficit back to two points, 27-25, but a three in the final minute gave the Gaels a 30-25 lead at the half.
 
The Tritons struggled to get going offensively to begin the second half, with SMC putting together an eight-point scoring run to begin the third quarter, 38-25. With the Gaels leading 40-28 with 5:05 to play, both teams went on a scoring drought for the remaining five minutes of the period. Gallegos knocked down two free throws with 13 second to play and SMC took a ten point advantage, 40-30, into the fourth quarter break.
 
UC San Diego caught fire in the fourth, opening with a 12-2 scoring run to pull even with the Gaels, 42-42, midway through the period. With the game knotted at 49-all, Forsyth knocked down two free throws to give the Tritons the lead with 30 seconds remaining in regulation. The Gaels answered with a turn-around jumper to put the game even once again with 24 seconds on the clock. UC San Diego had a chance to retake the lead with a pair of free throws on the next possession, but the Tritons came up empty. The Gaels missed a last second jumper and regulation ended at 51-all.
 
The teams went cold for the first two minutes of the overtime period before Sugapong hit a floating jumper to put UC San Diego back in front, 53-51. The teams remained knotted at 55-all with 10 seconds on the clock when Saint Mary's sank a layup and drew the foul for a three-point play to lead, 58-55. The Tritons continued to put up a fight in the final seconds but the Gaels came out on top, 61-58.
 
QUOTABLE
"I thought our team showed tremendous character," said UC San Diego head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "I thought we came out and played very well in the first quarter and set the tone against a very good Saint Mary's team. And then obviously struggled offensively in the third but showed a lot of resiliency and a lot of character in the fourth quarter to come back. We had a chance going into overtime, but they just made some more plays down the stretch.
 
"I'm very proud of our team. I think we've grown a lot and I'm very confident that at some point we will get some payout from our work."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Freshman Sumayah Sugapong led the Triton offense for the second game in her young collegiate career—finishing with a season-high 17 points.
• The Tritons shot 30.5 percent from the field, compared to 42.3 percent for Saint Mary's.
• UC San Diego went 17-for-24 (70.8%) from the free throw line compared to 12-for-15 for SMC (80%).
• The Tritons held the advantage in points off turnovers (15-11) and second chance points (11-6), while the Gaels had the edge in rebounds (42-33), points in the paint (34-22) and bench points (26-9).
• With the loss, UC San Diego moves to 0-2 in the all-time series with Saint Mary's.

 UP NEXT
The Tritons return home to LionTree Arena on Wednesday to host La Sierra at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics 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 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 84 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.