RIVERSIDE, Calif.—UC San Diego women's basketball defeated UC Riverside, 72-49, on Thursday evening in SRC Arena. With the win, the Tritons (11-12, 7-4 Big West) swept the season series with the Highlanders (10-12, 6-6) and improved to 7-3 in the Division I series.
 
Sumayah Sugapong led the team offensively with 20 points, while four other Tritons scored in double figures. Kayanna Spriggs recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Sabrina Ma also finished with 12 points and Erin Condron and Parker Montgomery added 10 apiece. Sugapong and Junaé Mahan led the team with three assists each, while Sugapong collected a team-best five steals and Montgomery tallied four.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams traded shots for the majority of the opening quarter, battling to a 12-12 tied at the first period break. Four Tritons contributed points, led by Spriggs with five.
 
UC San Diego used an 8-2 scoring run early in the second quarter to create the first real lead of the game, 20-16. UCR pulled within one point but a pair of timely threes by Sugapong and Montgomery put the Tritons up 27-19 with 3:44 to play in the half. An eight-point run by Riverside tied the game once again, 27-all. The Tritons held the Highlanders scoreless in the final minute and a half and used back-to-back layups by Condron and Sugapong to build a 31-27 lead at halftime.
 
After a slow start to the second half, it remained a one-possession lead for the Tritons, 35-33, at the midpoint of the quarter. UC San Diego then caught fire with a 9-0 run midway through the period to lead, 44-33. The Tritons maintained the advantage down the stretch and took a 48-37 lead into the final quarter break.
 
UC San Diego began the fourth period with another run, scoring seven unanswered in the first two minutes to lead, 56-37. Another seven-point run midway through the quarter gave the Tritons a commanding 66-42 advantage. A pair of steal-and-score plays put UC San Diego over 70 points for the sixth time this season and the Tritons held on for the 72-49 victory.
 
QUOTABLE
"I'm very excited about our our win," said head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "It was a hard fought road win. I thought we battled for three-and-a-half quarters and stuck with it and really our defense and our offense kind of came together in the latter part of the third quarter and through the fourth.
 
Sumayah [Sugapong] set the tone for our team with her leadership and her aggressiveness offensively, as did Kayanna [Spriggs]. This was the Kayanna that we're used to seeing—trusting her to set the tone for our team. We also got great contributions from Erin [Condron], Sabrina [Ma] and Gracie [Gallegos] in different ways tonight. It was a team win. I thought it was a good way to start the weekend and we'll have to come back on Saturday and battle against a very good Irvine team, but we'll enjoy this win uh and then focus on a Irvine tomorrow."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Sumayah Sugapong recorded her sixth 20-point performance of the season.
• Kayanna Spriggs collected her second double-double of the year.
• UC San Diego had the advantage in points in the paint (40-18), points off of turnovers (18-3), second chance points (19-9) and rebounds (37-32).
• The Tritons matched their season low with just seven turnovers.
• The Tritons are now 9-16 in the all-time series (7-3 in D-I) and 2-0 this season against UC Riverside.
• UC San Diego starters were Sumayah Sugapong, Sabrina Ma, Gracie Gallegos, Kayanna Spriggs and Parker Montgomery.

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 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 84 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.