LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego women's basketball (8-11, 4-3 Big West) secured a nail-biting 59-58 victory against UC Riverside (8-9, 4-3 Big West) on Saturday afternoon in LionTree Arena. The Tritons move into a three-way tie for fifth in the Big West with UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara.
Sabrina Ma's five first-half threes contributed to her team-leading 17 points, while
Erin Condron broke out for 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks and
Gracie Gallegos finished with 12 points.
Sumayah Sugapong was an everywoman, recording 10 points, six rebounds, five steals and two blocks in the Triton's defense-centered win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons came out of an early timeout firing, going on an 11-0 run courtesy of Ma's trio of three-pointers. A Highlander timeout leveled out the momentum, although the Tritons remained disciplined from the field as they went 6-of-6 to finish the quarter up 20-14.
Defense was the name of the game for the Tritons in the second quarter, beginning with consecutive offense charging fouls drawn by Ma. Despite a tight man-to-man Highlander coverage on the other end, the Tritons managed a 12-0 run over two minutes thanks in large part to back-to-back-back steals. The teams traded points in the latter half, with a 6-0 Highlander run cutting the Triton lead to 45-33.
The Tritons continued their defensive clinic out of halftime, collecting another trio of steals and converting them into a pair of two-pointers to break past the 50-point mark. UC Riverside flipped the script in the final five minutes with three steals of their own. UC San Diego did not score any points from open play during this period, save for a Gallegos buzzer-beating pullup two-pointer to finish the quarter at 56-42.
The Highlanders began to mount a comeback in the fourth, going on a 9-0 run in five minutes to cut the lead down to six points. A
Parker Montgomery steal-and-score revived the Triton campaign, but scoring slowed as both defenses dialed in. The Highlanders eventually broke through with a pair of layups and a free throw to make it 59-58 with 25 seconds remaining. The Tritons would not be denied, however, closing out the game with suffocating defense.
QUOTABLE
"I thought our team took steps today," said head coach
Heidi VanDerveer. "Obviously you always want to learn, and it is a lot better learning when you win than it is learning from a loss. We will definitely learn from this win.
"I thought that Sabrina [Ma] gave us great energy. Gracie [Gallegos] gave us great poise and kind of was the difference maker. I thought that they were very physical with Samayah [Sugapong], but I thought she also kept her poise and obviously Parker [Montgomery] down the stretch making those big steals in the fourth quarter was huge. And finally, I think that Erin [Condron] is establishing herself as one of the premier post players in our league.
"We didn't start well, maybe didn't end the fourth quarter great, but in the middle we played some of our best basketball and we will learn from that and then we'll grow."
TRITON TIDBITS
UP NEXT
UC San Diego hits the road for a rematch against UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23. The Tritons fell to the Gauchos 66-80 on Dec. 5. UC San Diego will remain on the road to face CSUN on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 2p.m. The games 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 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.
