SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC San Diego women's basketball fell to UC Santa Barbara, 60-52, on Thursday evening in The Thunderdome. The Tritons (10-14, 6-7 Big West) moved to 3-7 in the all-time series with the Gauchos (16-8, 10-4 Big West) and 3-3 in the D-I series.
 
Denali Pinto led the offense with 14 points, going 3-for-4 from the field, 3-for-3 from three-point range and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Sumayah Sugapong also finished in double figures with 13 points and Izzy Forsyth added nine. Parker Montgomery led the team with seven rebounds—including three offensive boards—and Gracie Gallegos finished with six. Montgomery also led the team with three assists and two steals, while Sugapong and Pinto also collected two steals. Katie Springs tallied two blocks in the contest.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
The Tritons forced three straight UCSB turnovers to start the contest, taking an early 6-0 lead. UC Santa Barbara responded with a nine-point run to take the lead midway through the period, 9-6. After being fouled on a layup, Sugapong knocked down her free throw to complete the three-point play. Forsyth and Eri Blithikioti followed with back-to-back threes to give the Tritons a nine-point run of their own. 
 
With UC San Diego leading 15-9 heading into the final minute of the opening quarter, UCSB went on a 5-0 run to pull within one point at the first quarter, 15-14. The Tritons forced seven turnovers for the Gauchos in the opening period.
 
The defensive battle continued into the second quarter, with UC Santa Barbara opening the period on a five-point scoring run to take the lead, 19-15. The Tritons then shutout the Gauchos for the remainder of the quarter, holding UCSB to just 2-of-12 from the field and 1-of-6 from three-point range. UC San Diego scored nine unanswered to close out the quarter and took a 24-19 lead into the halftime intermission.
 
The Tritons came out strong to begin the second half, building an eight-point lead, 31-23, with 7:23 on the clock. UC San Diego extended its largest lead of the contest, 38-27, after a jumper by Montgomery and three consecutive free throws by Pinto. UC Santa Barbara found some momentum to close out the quarter, putting together an 8-2 run to cut the lead to five, 40-35.
 
The Gauchos carried the momentum into the final quarter, opening on an 11-2 run to retake the lead, 46-42. UC San Diego remained within two possessions with under two minutes to play, but UCSB outscored the Tritons 7-3 in the final minutes to take the contest, 60-52.
 
QUOTABLE
"Just very disappointed in the outcome tonight," said head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "In the first half—even though we didn't play great—I thought we played solid defensively. We got up in the second half but could not respond to their run. We had some turnovers that cost us, some missed assignments defensively and just didn't quite play with five people in sync—either offensively or defensively—in the second half. And momentum is funny, it doesn't care who it goes with, it's just going with whoever has it and they got it and we couldn't stop it." 
 
TRITON TIDBITS 

• Sumayah Sugapong scored in double figures for the 19th time this season and Denali Pinto recorded her 14th double-digit effort.
• Parker Montgomery matched her career high with seven rebounds.
• UC Santa Barbara had the edge in points off turnovers (18-10), bench points (14-8), points in the paint (22-16) and fast break points (13-5). UC San Diego held the advantage in second chance points (11-7). The teams were even in rebounds (35-35).
• The Tritons shot 33 percent from the field, compared to 41 percent for UCSB. UC San Diego was 6-of-17 (35%) from three, compared to 7-of-18 (39%) for the Gauchos.
• UC San Diego starters were Izzy Forsyth, Gracie Gallegos, Parker Montgomery, Denali Pinto and Sumayah Sugapong.
• The Tritons are now 3-6 in the all-time series with UC Santa Barbara and 3-2 in D-I.

  UP NEXT 
UC San Diego will remain on the road to face Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Tritons topped the Titans earlier this season in LionTree Arena, 71-58. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics 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.