LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's basketball earned its first Big West victory of the season with a 64-50 defeat of UC Santa Barbara on Thursday evening in LionTree Arena. The Tritons (5-8, 1-1 Big West) moved to 3-2 in the Division I series with the Gauchos (8-5, 2-1 Big West) and 3-1 in LionTree Arena.
 
Sumayah Sugapong led all scorers with 20 points—adding a career-best six rebounds—while Parker Montgomery finished in double-figures as well with 13. Izzy Forsyth led the team with seven rebounds, adding eight points and Eri Blithikioti led the team with three assists, adding nine points for the Tritons.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
After the Tritons took an early 4-0 lead on back-to-back jumpers from Montgomery, the Gauchos put together a nine-point scoring run to take the lead. UC San Diego responded with a 13-3 scoring run of its own to go up, 17-12, behind six-straight points for Montgomery. UCSB closed out the quarter on a three-point play and the Tritons took a 17-15 lead into the first quarter break. 
 
The Tritons held UC Santa Barbara scoreless through the first seven minutes of the second quarter, putting together a 10-0 scoring run to lead, 25-15. Back-to-back baskets by Sugapong gave the Tritons their largest lead of the half, 29-18, with under a minute to play. The Gauchos scored five unanswered in the final minute of the period, but the Tritons held the advantage, 29-23, at halftime.
 
UC San Diego opened the second half with a 5-0 run to build back the 11-point lead, 34-23. UC Santa Barbara found a rhythm midway through the quarter and outscored the Tritons 10-3 to cut the lead to four with under two minutes to play. Blithikioti hit a layup with 41 seconds and Forsyth followed with a three at the buzzer to give the Tritons a 42-33 advantage at the final quarter break.
 
The teams traded baskets to open the final period before UC San Diego put together a 10-1 scoring run to lead 54-39 midway through the quarter. The Tritons were a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch and outscored the Gauchos 22-17 in the final period to secure the victory, 64-50. 
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Sumayah Sugapong and Parker Montgomery scored in double figures.
  • Sugapong recorded her third 20+ point game.
• Junior transfer Meaali'i Amosa made her Triton debut in the contest.
• The Tritons held the advantage in points off turnovers (15-5), bench points (17-15), points in the paint (40-20) and rebounds (38-36). UCSB had the edge in second chance points (11-4).
• UC San Diego held the Gauchos to their second-lowest field goal percentage (.333) of the season. UCSB is currently leading the Big West with an average team field goal percentage of .451 this season.
• The Tritons' 14-point victory is the largest margin against a Division I opponent this season.
• UC San Diego starters were Izzy Forsyth, Parker Montgomery, Denali Pinto, Katie Springs and Sumayah Sugapong.
• The Tritons are now 3-6 in the all-time series with UC Santa Barbara, 3-2 in the D-I series and 3-1 in LionTree Arena.

 UP NEXT 
UC San Diego will remain home to host Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 2 p.m. in LionTree Arena. The game 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 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.