LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's basketball defeated Cal Poly, 66-49, on Thursday evening in LionTree Arena. With the win, the Tritons (14-13, 10-5 Big West) clinched a spot in the 2025 Big West Women's Basketball Championship next month in Henderson, Nev.
 
Sabrina Ma led the team with 14 points, including three 3-pointers and two blocks, showcasing her versatility on both ends of the court. Parker Montgomery contributed significantly with 12 points and a team-high five steals, with four made 3-pointers. Kayanna Spriggs was effective in the paint, scoring 12 points with a field goal percentage of 71.4% and collecting nine rebounds. Gracie Gallegos provided playmaking with a team-leading five assists while adding seven points and six rebounds. Sumayah Sugapong recorded two steals and contributed nine points, while Junaé Mahan added eight points, one steal and one block.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons capitalized on turnovers early, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead. Erin Condron further extended the lead with a layup at 3:38, bringing the score to 8-2. Ma knocked down a three-pointer and Gallegos followed with a layup to give UC San Diego a 13-2 advantage. The Tritons maintained a defensive edge with multiple steals in the quarter, ending the first period with a 13-7 lead over the Mustangs.
 
UC San Diego opened the second quarter with a strong performance, putting together an eight-point run to extend the lead. Spriggs was responsible for six of the points in the run, scoring on three consecutive layups to bring the advantage to 21-7. The team maintained a steady defense, with Ma contributing a block at 6:41, and capitalized on turnovers, building a 27-13 advantage at the halftime break.
 
The Tritons opened the second half with a four-point run, highlighted by a three from Montgomery. Cal Poly found some momentum, putting together a 7-0 run before Ma stalled the comeback with another three to make it 34-20. UC San Diego caught fired in the back half of the period, outscoring the Mustangs, 16-4, thanks to threes by Montgomery, Ma and Gallegos. Cal Poly closed out the quarter with a six-point run of its own, but the Tritons took a 50-32 advantage into the final quarter break. 
 
Cal Poly began to mount a comeback once again, opening the final period with a 10-3 scoring run to shrink the lead to 11. Montgomery hit a three with 2:07 remaining to stall the Mustang's momentum and knocked down another three in the final 40 seconds to seal the victory for the Tritons, 66-49.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• UC San Diego held the advantage in points off of turnovers (21-14), field goal percentage (40.7% to 34.6%), rebounds (38-33) and turnovers forced (23-18).
• Cal Poly had the edge in fast break points (11-3) and bench points (13-12), while second chance points (9-9) and points in the paint (22-22) were even.
• With the win, the Tritons moved to 5-5 in the all-time series with Cal Poly and 1-1 this season.
• UC San Diego (10-5) currently sits in third place in the Big West behind Hawai'i (13-2) and UC Irvine (11-4). The Tritons will travel to face the first-place Rainbow Wahine on Saturday.
• UC San Diego starters were Sumayah Sugapong, Sabrina Ma, Gracie Gallegos, Kayanna Spriggs and Parker Montgomery.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will travel to face Big West leader Hawai'i on Saturday at 9 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
 
Article partially generated with FanWord.
 
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.