RIVERSIDE, Calif.—UC San Diego women's basketball defeated California Baptist, 81-58, on Saturday afternoon in Fowler Events Center. The Tritons (3-8, 1-1 Big West) led from start to finish, recording season-highs in threes (10), rebounds (44) and assists (19) to earn the program's first Division I win over the Lancers (2-10).
 
Sumayah Sugapong finished one point shy of her career high with 24 points and collected a career-best seven assists. Damilola Sule tallied a career-high 18 points and matched her career high with 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Sabrina Ma matched Sugapong with four three-pointers in the contest for 16 points and led the team with two blocks. Parker Montgomery added eight points and led the team with three steals, along with Ma and Sugapong. Gracie Gallegos collected nine rebounds, six points, six assists and two steals as well.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons jumped out to an early, 8-0, lead behind back-to-back threes from Ma and Montgomery to open the contest. Midway through the quarter, UC San Diego put together a 13-point scoring run that included 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Sugapong and Sule led the Tritons in the opening period with seven and six points respectively and UC San Diego took a 23-8 lead into the first quarter break. 
 
The second period started like the first with a 7-0 run by the Tritons to make it 30-8. Back-to-back threes by Sugapong and Ma extended UC San Diego's advantage, 36-11 with 6:44 to play. Another three by Ma gave the Tritons their largest lead of the first half with 29 points, 44-15. UC San Diego hit six threes in the period and took a 49-23 advantage into the halftime intermission.
 
Sugapong led the Tritons with 13 points in the second quarter and tallied 20 points in the first half to pace UC San Diego, while Ma totaled 12 at the break.
 
The Tritons put together another six-point run in the opening minutes of the second half to extend their lead, 57-25. UC San Diego scored 20 of its 27 points in the quarter in the paint and the Tritons were paced by 10 points from Sule in the period. The Tritons closed out the quarter on a 9-3 run to build the largest lead of the contest, 76-36, at the final quarter break.
 
The fourth quarter was largely in favor of California Baptist, outscoring the Tritons 22-5 in the period. The Lancers knocked down four shots from beyond the arc and collected eight points off turnovers, but the Tritons' early advantage proved to be enough for the 81-58 victory.
 
 QUOTABLE
"I'm very happy with the game today," said head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "I thought that we came out and understood the assignment. Sumayah [Sugapong] set the tone from the very beginning—she was engaged and aggressive offensively. Sabrina [Ma] was sharp as well, she hit some big shots for us when we needed them. I thought we were very active defensively and that really set the tone for the game. Damilola [Sule] came in and gave us great minutes with the double-double and was a tremendous presence for us. We really had contributions from everybody. It was a great team win.
 
California Baptist is an excellent team that's very well coached and it's a tough environment there. I'm very proud of our effort and I feel like we are finally seeing some rewards for our hard work and preparation."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Damilola Sule recorded a career high in points (18) and matched her career high in rebounds (12).
  • She finished 5-for-6 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
• Sumayah Sugapong tallied a career high in assists (7).
• The Tritons shot 40.6 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from three. 
• UC San Diego held the edge in rebounds (44-40), points off turnovers (24-11), steals (15-4), points in the paint (34-14), bench points (25-17), fast break points (17-2), second chance points (13-10) and assists (19-13).
• UC San Diego is 6-19 in the all-time series (1-3 in D-I) with California Baptist.
• UC San Diego starters were Sumayah Sugapong, Sabrina Ma, Gracie Gallegos, Kayanna Spriggs and Parker Montgomery.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will return to LionTree Arena to host a multi-team event before the holiday break, hosting Northern Kentucky and La Salle, Dec. 19-21. The Tritons will face NKU on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. and take on La Salle on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 12 p.m. The two visiting teams will play a neutral contest on Friday, Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. The Tritons' games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available for all games 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.