HENDERSON, Nev. – Sabrina Ma led four Tritons in double figures as No. 2 UC San Diego downed No. 3 UC Davis, 84-79, in a Big West semifinal Friday afternoon inside Lee's Family Forum. The Tritons (23-8) will make their second consecutive appearance in the title game, moving on to Saturday's championship game vs. Hawai'i. The fourth-seeded Rainbow Wahine upset top seed UC Irvine in overtime earlier Friday.
Ma drained four-three-pointers in the win.
Makayla Rose added 19 points, six rebounds and four assists,
Dymonique Maxie contributed 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists, and freshman
Lev Feiman chipped in 16 for the Tritons, who overcame a slow start on the way to the win.
The Aggies were led by a game-high 27 from Avery Sussex. Nya Epps scored 20 and pulled down 10 rebounds and Megan Norris had her own double-double with 13 and 13.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Davis (23-10) hit five of its first seven shots and ran out to an 11-2 lead, forcing a Triton timeout with 6:41 to play in the quarter. UC San Diego got a driving layup from
Sabrina Ma, but nothing more over its first six shot attempts. The Tritons settled in, using an 8-0 run out of the timeout to forge ahead, 14-13.
Erin Condron scored four and
Makayla Rose was 4-4 from the free throw line during the run. The Tritons led 22-17 after one, thanks to six apiece from Condron, Rose, and
Lev Feiman. Rose added four rebounds.
Feiman and
Dymonique Maxie drained threes as part of an 11-0 Triton run late in the second quarter. UC San Diego was up 40-28 on a Feiman layup with three minutes left in the second. The Tritons hit 7 of their first 11 shots in the quarter and led 42-35 at the half.
Feiman led all scorers with 11 first half points, with Rose and Maxie adding nine, and Condron, eight. UC San Diego outrebounded the Aggies, 18-15.
In the second half, a three-pointer from Ma – her third of the game – gave UC San Diego its largest lead, 47-35, with 8:45 left in the third. UC Davis drew back to within four and another three by Ma helped UC San Diego lead 59-53 at the end of the third quarter.
With Condron on the bench having four fouls, UC Davis cut into the Triton lead, drawing to within 63-60. The lead was five when Maxie knocked down her second triple of the game, extending the advantage to 68-60.
Free throws were a key for UC San Diego all afternoon. The Tritons were 16-for-17 (94%) from the line in the win.
TRITON TIDBITS
- UC San Diego led 42-35 at halftime. The Tritons led the Aggies at halftime in both regular season meetings.
- The Tritons committed only seven turnovers.
- Ma notched her 19th game of the season scoring in double figures.
- Damilola Sule pulled down six rebounds in seven minutes of action off the bench.
- UC San Diego wore its white uniforms as the higher-seeded team.
- The Tritons improved to 4-0 all-time at Lee's Family Forum with Friday's win.
QUOTABLE
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will compete for its second straight Big West title on Saturday afternoon when the Tritons take on Hawaii at 3 p.m. inside Lee's Family Forum. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on 97.3 The Fan in San Diego.
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 has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-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 garnered 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
