SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC San Diego women's basketball defeated UC Santa Barbara, 62-43, on Thursday evening in the Thunderdome. The Tritons (9-11, 5-3 Big West) leveled the season series with the Gauchos (10-8, 4-4 Big West) after leading nearly start to finish in the road contest.
Sumayah Sugapong recorded her fourth 20-point game of the season, finishing 11-of-12 from the free throw line and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc for a game-high 21 points.
Sabrina Ma recorded her first double-double for the Tritons with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while
Erin Condron also finished with 13 points. Sugapong also led the team with three assists and added a career-best eight rebounds, while Condron and Ma collected two steals apiece.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons took an early lead on back-to-back baskets by Ma and Sugapong to begin the contest and held the advantage for the entire first . UC San Diego used an 8-2 scoring run to create distance sparked by a three from Gallegos to lead 14-8. A late three by Condron maintained a six-point advantage for the Tritons heading into the first quarter break, 17-11.
UC San Diego was held scoreless for the first six minutes of the second period and the Gauchos cut the lead to three, 17-14. Back-to-back layups by Condron and Montgomery ended the drought and gave the Tritons a 21-14 advantage with 3:20 to play in the first half. A three by Ma gave UC San Diego its largest lead of the half at eight points and the Tritons went into the halftime intermission up, 24-19.
UC Santa Barbara opened the second half with a six-point run to take its first lead of the contest, 25-24. The Gauchos maintained a two-point lead, 29-27, with 5:31 on the clock before the Tritons mounted a rally. Layups by Condron and Gallegos sparked a seven-point run to retake the lead, 34-29. UCSB held the Tritons off the board in the final 1:30 and tied the game at 34-all, heading into the final quarter break.
UC San Diego took over in the fourth period, outscoring the Gauchos, 28-9. Sugapong quickly broke the tie with an and-one three-point play. Montgomery followed with a three to give the Tritons a 40-34 advantage. At the halfway point, Condron and Ma combined for an eight-point scoring run to bring UC San Diego's lead back to double-figures. A pair of threes by Sugapong and four made free throws by the Tritons down the stretch sealed the victory, 62-43.
QUOTABLE
"Very excited for our team," said head coach
Heidi VanDerveer. "I thought that we really showed great growth, resiliency and just focused on what we needed to do. I thought our defense was the key to the win. Our concentration, our intensity, our communication, our connectivity. We were connected.
"Sumayah [Sugapong] didn't really shoot well early, but she stayed right with it. She is a winner. She made big shots in the fourth quarter and kept our team rolling. I thought
Parker Montgomery did an excellent job defensively. Sabrina [Ma] had 11 rebounds, Gracie [Gallegos] helped facilitate our offense and Erin [Condron] came in off the bench and helped us both offensively and defensively. It was an overall team win and I'm happy for the growth our team showed to get it done."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Sumayah Sugapong recorded her fourth 20-point performance of the season and matched her career high with eight rebounds.
- Sabrina Ma recorded her first double-double in a Triton uniform.
- UC San Diego held the edge in points off turnovers (10-2), points in the paint (26-12), fast break points (8-4) and second chance points (6-4).
- The Tritons recorded a season-low seven turnovers—while forcing 17 for UCSB.
- UC San Diego is now 4-8 in the all-time series (4-4 in D-I) and 1-1 this season against UC Santa Barbara.
- UC San Diego starters were Sumayah Sugapong, Sabrina Ma, Gracie Gallegos, Kayanna Spriggs and Parker Montgomery.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up the road trip on Saturday at CSUN at 2p.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 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.
