SANTA BARBARA, Calif.–UC San Diego San Diego women's basketball fell to UC Santa Barbara, 64-50, on Saturday afternoon in the Thunderdome. With the loss, the Tritons (12-16, 9-9 Big West) split the season series with the Gauchos (19-9, 12-6 Big West) and moved to 2-5 in the all-time record.
 
Sydney Brown led the Tritons with 14 points, while Emily Cangelosi added eight and Parker Montgomery finished with six. Bridget Mullings led the team with six rebounds and Montgomery collected five. Julia Macabuhay tallied a team-best four assists, while Montgomery and Katie Springs chipped in two.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Santa Barbara took the early lead, 11-5, midway through the opening quarter. The Tritons used a jumper from Madison Baxter and a three from Bridget Mullings to tie the game at 15-all with under 30 seconds to go. However, UCSB hit a three at the buzzer to take a 18-15 lead into the first quarter break. 
 
The Tritons continued to battle, keeping it to a one-possession deficit for most of the second quarter, holding a 27-24 advantage with 3:47 to play. UCSB closed out the period with a 6-0 run and took a 33-24 lead into halftime.
 
UC San Diego struggled to get going from the field to open the second half, but were able to knock down 7-for-7 at the free throw line. UCSB used a 13-2 run to extend its lead to 18 with 3:14 on the clock, 48-30. Brown and Baxter combined to give the Tritons a mini 5-0 run to close out the period but the Gauchos still took a 48-35 lead into the final quarter break.
 
The Tritons continued to battle into the final period behind a pair of early three-point baskets from Brown, but the deficit proved too much and UCSB took the contest, 64-50.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Sydney Brown recorded her 20th double-figure scoring effort of the season. Her four rebounds put her one-shy of tying for fifth place all-time for the Tritons.
• Julia Macabuhay moved into fourth all-time in assists (293) for UC San Diego.
• The Tritons shot 31% from the field, 7-of-23 (30%) from three and 9-of-11 (82%) at the free throw line, compared to 40%, 5-of-21 (24%) and 17-of-21 for UCSB.
• The Gauchos held the advantage in second chance points (12-6), points in the paint (24-12) and rebounds (37-35). 
• UC San Diego starters were Sydney Brown, Emily Cangelosi, Izzy Forsyth, Julia Macabuhay and Parker Montgomery.  

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up the final week of the 2022-23 season, traveling to face Cal Poly on Thursday at 6 p.m. The Tritons will celebrate their seniors on Saturday before taking on Cal State Fullerton 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.