FRESNO, Calif.—UC San Diego women's basketball fell to Fresno State, 71-52, on Saturday afternoon in the Save Mart Center. With the loss, the Tritons (3-5) moved to 0-1 in the all-time series with the Bulldogs (6-3).
 
Sumayah Sugapong led the offense with 17 points, while Denali Pinto finished with 14 and Izzy Forsyth chipped in eight. Parker Montgomery led UC San Diego with two steals and collected five rebounds along with Forsyth. Four different Tritons collected two assists apiece.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons took an early 5-2 lead before the Bulldogs went on an eight-point scoring run to take the lead, 10-5. Fresno State extended its lead to as many as eight before a pair of timely threes and a layup—all by Pinto—pulled UC San Diego back within one possession, 17-19. The Bulldog closed out the quarter with a steal and score in the final 30 seconds to lead, 21-17, at the break.
 
Smith knocked down a layup early in the second period to cut the deficit back to two before the Bulldogs put together a 6-2 run to lead, 27-21. Erin Condron and Montgomery made a pair of free throws apiece to make it a one-score game once again, 27-25, with 2:20 on the clock. The Bulldogs responded with a 5-0 scoring run for their largest lead of the period, 32-25, before Smith knocked down two more free throws in the final seconds to make it 32-27 at the half. 
 
The teams traded baskets to open the second half, before the Bulldogs used a pair of threes to extend their lead to ten, 46-36. The Tritons continued to battle but Fresno State closed out the period with a six-point scoring run to lead, 55-40, at the final quarter break.
 
Fresno State opened the final quarter with five quick points to extend a 11-0 scoring run and lead, 60-40. The Tritons responded with a 5-0 run of their own but back-to-back threes by the Bulldogs stalled the momentum. UC San Diego continued to battle down the stretch but Fresno State took the contest, 71-52. 
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Sumayah Sugapong scored in double figures for the seventh time this season and led the team in scoring for the fifth.
• The Tritons held the advantage in second chance points (13-9) and rebounds (35-28), while Fresno State had the edge in points in the paint (22-18), bench points (28-17), and points off of turnovers (28-3).
• UC San Diego starters were Izzy Forsyth, Parker Montgomery, Rosa Smith, KatieSprings and Sumayah Sugapong. 

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will remain on the road next week, traveling to face Arizona on Thursday, Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed on the Arizona Live Stream 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 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.