LA JOLLA, Calif.–UC San Diego San Diego women's basketball fell to Hawai'i, 61-58, on Thursday evening in LionTree Arena. With the loss, the Tritons (11-12, 8-5 Big West) moved to 3-1 in the all-time series with the Rainbow Wahine (10-12, 8-5 Big West).
 
Sydney Brown led the Tritons with 15 points and Emily Cangelosi finished with 14, while Parker Montgomery chipped in eight. Cangelosi collected a team-best eight rebounds, while Brown finished with seven and Izzy Forsyth collected six. Five different Tritons recorded at least two assists, led by Julia Macabuhay with five and Montgomery with four. Montgomery also led the team with three steals and Courtni Thompson collected two.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams traded baskets early in the first quarter, before the Tritons created a little space with a four-point run to make it 8-4. With under five minutes to play, UC San Diego scored 10 unanswered to build a comfortable lead, 21-11, at the first quarter break.
 
The Tritons remained hot to open the second quarter, with a three from Cangelosi and a jumper from Forsyth to extend their lead 26-11. The Rainbow Wahine cut into the lead with a 5-0 point run of their own, but a timely three from Montgomery and another from Mullings gave UC San Diego a 35-21 advantage at the halftime break. The Tritons knocked down six threes in the first half, shooting 48 percent from the field and 46 from three.
 
The third quarter proved a different story for the Tritons, who went 0-for-4 from beyond the arc and shot 18 percent from the field. UC San Diego maintained a 13 point lead with 3:37 left in the period before UH hit three consecutive threes as part of an 11-point run to make it 43-41 heading into the final quarter break.
 
UC San Diego found a bit of their rhythm again offensively to open the fourth quarter, but still struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 1-of-9. The teams traded the lead down to a 55-55 tie with 4:32 to play before UH knocked down back-to-back baskets to pull in front by four and never relinquished the lead again. The Tritons were unable to connect on their final six shots—including two with under 10 seconds to play—which ultimately sealed the victory for the Rainbow Wahine.
 
QUOTABLE
"I'm disappointed in the opportunity that we let pass by us," said head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "I thought we got a little fortunate in the first half when they missed some shots and we got a bit of an offensive roll going, but then in the second half we just didn't make enough plays to win. I think that we're much better than this and hopefully we'll grow and learn. It doesn't get any easier and we don't want it to get any easier, but we need to respond and have a good stretch here with five games in 10 days on the schedule. This is going to be big for our team to respond."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Sydney Brown recorded her 17th double-figure scoring effort of the season and Emily Cangelosi recorded her 11th.
• UC San Diego shot 36.7% from the field and finished 7-of-26 (26.9%) from three-point range, compared to 40% from the field and 8-of-23 (34.8%) from three for Hawai'i.
• Hawai'i held the advantage in points off turnovers (17-12), points in the paint (30-22), second chance points (12-9) and bench points (20-9).
• UC San Diego starters were Sydney Brown, Emily Cangelosi, Izzy Forsyth, Julia Macabuhay and Parker Montgomery. 

UP NEXT
The Tritons will return to the road for a midweek contest at Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. and travel to CSUN on Saturday, Feb. 18 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.