BAKERSFIELD, Calif.–UC San Diego San Diego women's basketball defeated CSU Bakersfield, 56-42, on Saturday afternoon in the Icardo Center. With the win, the Tritons (11-11, 8-4 Big West) improved to 8-12 (4-2 in D-I) in the all-time series with the Roadrunners (6-14, 3-9 Big West).
 
Emily Cangelosi led the Tritons with a game-high 13 points, while Izzy Forsyth added 12 and Julia Macabuhay chipped in nine. Forsyth and Parker Montgomery tallied seven rebounds each—a career high for Montgomery—and Cangelosi added six. Montgomery also led the team with five assists and three steals. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a slow start to open the contest before the Tritons used a 6-0 scoring run to take the lead 7-3. The Roadrunners retook the lead 9-8 with 1:33 on the clock but a timely three from Cangelosi gave UC San Diego the 11-9 advantage at the first quarter break.
 
CSUB tied the game again at 11-11 before the Tritons put together a seven-point scoring run to create space midway through the second period. The Roadrunners cut the lead to two, 18-16, before Mullings knocked down two key free throws in the final minute to give UC San Diego a 20-16 advantage at halftime.
 
Cangelosi and Forsyth knocked down early shots in the second half to build the lead to 25-18. The teams traded buckets until UC San Diego closed out the quarter with an eight-point scoring run to make it 35-23 at the final quarter break. 
 
Both teams seemed to find their rhythm on offense in the final period, with UC San Diego outscoring CSUB, 21-19. The Tritons caught fire from beyond the arc, finishing 4-of-5 with four different players credited with a basket. UC San Diego also went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe to seal the victory, 56-42.
 
QUOTABLE
"I thought this was a great bounce-back win for our team," said head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "I was very pleased with the effort—obviously our defense had different people stepping up and contributing. Coming off the bench, Gabby Louther did a fantastic job defensively and Katie Springs was great, coming in and being prepared. Those two haven't played a lot but they came in and gave us tremendous energy and had great attention to detail. And I thought Julia [Macabuhay] was great today—she was aggressive and attacked the basket and she really set the tone for our team. I was very happy with our defense and the way we came in to a tough place to play and got the win."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Izzy Forsyth and Emily Cangelosi both recorded their 10th double-figure scoring effort of the season.
• The Tritons have won six of their last eight contests.
• UC San Diego shot 35.6% from the field, 32% from three and 16-of-23 from the free throw line. CSUB shot 25.5% from the field, 2-for-19 (10.5%) from three and finished 14-of-23 at the free throw line.
• The Tritons held the advantage in fast break points (13-5), assists (11-2), and finished with eight three-pointers compared to two for CSUB.
• The Roadrunners held the advantage in points off turnovers (14-12), second chance points (6-3), points in the paint (14-12) and bench points (17-10.
• UC San Diego starters were Sydney Brown, Emily Cangelosi, Izzy Forsyth, Julia Macabuhay and Parker Montgomery. 

UP NEXT
The Tritons will host Hawai'i on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. in LionTree Arena—their only game of the week. The contest 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.