DENVER—UC San Diego women's basketball battled in its second consecutive overtime game, but ultimately fell to Denver, 67-59, on Sunday afternoon in Hamilton Gymnasium. The Tritons (1-6) competed in their third overtime contest of the season, marking the first meeting with the Pioneers (2-3).
 
Sumayah Sugapong led the Tritons with 17 points, while Kayanna Spriggs added 15 and Sabrina Ma finished with 10. Gracie Gallegos finished with seven rebounds and Spriggs collected six. Sugapong tallied a team-high three assists and four steals, while Nicki Polocheck finished with three steals.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively, with the first points coming nearly two minutes into the contest. Back-to-back baskets by Rosa Smith and Sugapong gave the Tritons an early 4-2 advantage. Another layup and a three by Sugapong gave UC San Diego a 9-4 lead with 3:01 on the clock. A three by Denver ended the run but the Tritons responded and took a 12-8 advantage into the first quarter break.
 
Back-to-back threes in the opening minute of the second period gave the Pioneers the lead, 14-12. Spriggs responded with two consecutive layups to regain the lead for UC San Diego, 16-14. The Tritons cooled off for the remainder of the quarter, making one basket and trailing 25-18 at halftime.
 
UC San Diego came out of the intermission with renewed energy, putting together an 11-2 run to retake the lead, 29-27. The Pioneers responded with a three before the Tritons put together another run of seven points to jump back in front, 36-30. Mahan scored the final points of the quarter with a step-back jumper at the buzzer to give UC San Diego a 38-32 advantage heading into the final quarter break.
 
The teams traded baskets to open the final period before Denver went on an 11-2 run to pull in front, 46-44. A three-point play by Spriggs with under five minutes to play gave UC San Diego the advantage again, 47-46. Spriggs hit another layup with 30 seconds to play and Sugapong hit two free throws to give the Tritons a 51-48 lead. With three seconds remaining, Denver hit a three to tie things up 51-51 and send the game to overtime. 
 
The Pioneers opened the overtime period with a three and used a 5-0 scoring run to create distance, 59-53. The Tritons continued to battle down the stretch, going 6-for-7 from the free throw line to make it a one-possession game, 62-59, with 27 seconds remaining. However, the Tritons were unable to land the equalizer and the Pioneers eventually took the contest, 67-59.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• UC San Diego is 0-3 in overtime games this season.
• The Tritons are now 0-1 in the all-time series with Denver.
• UC San Diego starters were Sumayah Sugapong, Sabrina Ma, Nicki Polocheck, Gracie Gallegos and Kayanna Spriggs.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will take a trip to the Bay Area to face Stanford on Friday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. 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.