SACRAMENTO—UC San Diego women's basketball fell to Sacramento State, 71-60, on Thursday evening at The Nest. It was the first ever meeting for the Tritons (1-1) and the Hornets (2-0).
 
Junae Mahan led the Tritons with 15 points, while Kayanna Spriggs added nine and Gracie Gallegos, Rosa Smith and Sumayah Sugapong all chipped in seven apiece. Mahan also led the team with seven rebounds, while Sabrina Ma and Kayanna Spriggs tallied five each. Sugapong collected and team-best four assists and tied three other Tritons with two steals.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego got off to a quick start after back-to-back baskets by Gracie Gallegos building an early 9-2 lead. Sacramento State answered with a 10-2 run of its own to pull in front for the first time in the contest, 12-11. The Tritons retook the lead with a layup by Damilola Sule and back-to-back buckets by Rosa Smith and Mahan to make it 17-13 with under a minute to play. UC San Diego took a 17-16 advantage into the first quarter break.
 
The teams traded points to start the second period before the Hornets put together another 10-2 run to create distance, 31-24. The Tritons were limited to free throws down the stretch and a pair of three-pointers gave Sac State a ten-point halftime lead, 37-27.
 
The Hornets opened the second half with a four-point run to build their largest lead of the contest, 41-27. UC San Diego gained momentum midway through the period with a 7-1 scoring run to bring the deficit back to single digits, 42-34. With three minutes in the quarter, Spriggs scored six unanswered to make it 46-42. Mahan closed the gap further with a three-point play to make it 48-45 but Sacramento State took a five-point advantage into the final quarter break, 51-45.
 
In the final quarter, Sac State put together an 11-2 scoring run to lead 62-49 midway through the period. Sugapong and Gallegos scored on back-to-back possessions with under five minutes to play but the Hornets maintained their advantage down the stretch to take the contest, 71-60.
 
QUOTABLE
"It was a challenging evening for our team," said head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "We dug ourselves a hole in the second quarter, ran into some foul trouble, responded in the middle of the third through the fourth and clawed our way back into the game. We showed good character but just fell short. 
 
I think we just need to play with a little more discipline defensively and be more efficient offensively but those are all things we can work on. The fact that we came back and competed in a challenging environment speaks to the character of our team and something we'll grow from and continue to work on in this early season."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Junae Mahan finished one point shy of her career high (16 points vs UCSB; 12/31/22).
• UC San Diego held the advantage in points in the paint (26-18) and steals (10-9), while Sac State had the edge in points off turnovers (22-17), three-pointers (8-2) and bench points (30-16).
• There were 59 total fouls called in the contest (33 for UCSD, 26 for SacSt), a Division I record for the Tritons. 
• It was the first ever meeting between UC San Diego and Sacramento State.
• UC San Diego starters were Sumayah Sugapong, Sabrina Ma, Gracie Gallegos, Kayanna Spriggs and Junae Mahan.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will return home to celebrate Homecoming Weekend in LionTree Arena, playing host to Arizona on Sunday 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.