LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego women's basketball strung together another win on Thursday via a 50-43 victory over Cal State Bakersfield in LionTree Arena. The Tritons (12-16, 8-9 Big West) are now 1-1 against the Roadrunners (8-19, 5-13 Big West) on the season.
Izzy Forsyth led the offensive stats with 15 points, with
Sumayah Sugapong notching 10 points.
Gracie Gallegos also starred with 9 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons and Roadrunners matched the other's intensity on both ends of the court. By the first media timeout, the score stood at 8-6 in favor of the visitors, who shot 3-of-8 from open play. Two pointers stacked up for UC San Diego, who tied it up 12-12 by the end of the quarter.
Denali Pinto opened the Triton's second quarter scoring with a three-pointer, soon followed by another three to create a 20-14 breadth with five minutes until halftime. Nine Triton turnovers, including back-to-back Roadrunner interceptions, enabled Bakersfield to tie the game at 22-22 going into the locker room.
UC San Diego's defense was the bright spot of the half as they kept Bakersfield to a 25 percent field goal percentage and three offensive rebounds. Pinto and Gallegos led on this front, each collecting five defensive rebounds; Gallegos also collected the team's solitary steal.
Personal fouls added to the Triton's troubles in the third quarter, preventing them from sustaining a lead early in the third quarter. Halfway through, however, the hosts found a groove to go on a 9-0 run. The streak was capped off by a
Grace Talbot three-pointer to earn UC San Diego's largest lead of the game at 36-27.
The Roadrunners cut down the lead to three swiftly in the final quarter via a three-pointer and steal-and-score layup. The Tritons sped up their play from this point, eventually yielding a wide open three-pointer from Forsyth.
With time closing in, UC San Diego opted to run out the clock, though Bakersfield would not go down easily as they extended the final 48 seconds to over 10 minutes.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Sumayah Sugapong scored in double figures for the 21st time this season and 11th for Izzy Forsyth.
- Gracie Gallegos collected double-figure rebounds for the second consecutive game.
- UC San Diego outrebounded the Roadrunners 55 to 35, setting the program's Division I record for team rebounds in a single game.
- The Tritons had the edge in second chance points (12-7) and points in the paint (20-14), while CSUB had the edge in points off turnovers (12-6) and bench points (8-5).
- UC San Diego is now 5-3 against Cal State Bakersfield in Division I play; they are 9-13 all-time.
- UC San Diego starters were Izzy Forsyth, Gracie Gallegos, Parker Montgomery, Denali Pinto and Sumayah Sugapong.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego plays its final home game of the season on Saturday against CSUN. The Tritons slipped past the Matadors 53-52 in their first meeting on Feb. 1. The Senior Day game is slated for 2 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live statistics on 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.
