PHOENIX, Ariz. - Trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, the UC San Diego women's basketball team rallied for a 71-70 victory over Grand Canyon in its season-opener Saturday afternoon at GCU's Antelope Gymnasium. Sophomore guard Chelsea Carlisle scored 20 points to lead UCSD, while junior forward Tiffany Hunter chipped in with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds in her Triton debut.

Grand Canyon (1-1) took a 39-24 lead following two free throws from Samantha Murphy with just under three minutes remaining in the opening half, but UCSD (1-0) would score the final eight points of the period to cut the deficit to seven at the break. Hunter started the run with a three-point play and Carlisle drained one of her three triples in the game to make it 39-32 heading into the locker room.

The Tritons trailed 48-39 after Katie Johnson hit a jumper for the Antelopes 5:23 into the second, but Lauren Freidenberg answered with a layup at the other end to spark an 11-2 UCSD run over the next five minutes as the Tritons came roaring back to tie the game at 50 with 9:39 left to play.

Five straight points from Carlisle gave UCSD a 61-55 lead at the 6:08 mark and Leilani Martin's layup with 4:34 remaining gave the Tritons their biggest advantage at 66-59.

Back-to-back baskets from Murphy brought GCU to within two (68-66) with two and a half minutes left, but Friedenberg came up with a big offense rebound and scored to extend the Triton lead to four. The Antelopes pulled with two once again at 70-68 following a pair of free throws from Ashley Hardin, but Annette Ilg drew a foul on the next trip for UCSD and made one of two at the line to give the Tritons a three-point advantage with 57 seconds left on the clock.

Two free throws by Katrina Graham made it 71-70 before Carlisle missed a jumper with 15 seconds remaining to give the Antelopes the ball for the final shot. Stacy Haddow's three-point attempt missed the mark, however, and UCSD held on for the one-point triumph.

"We got an outstanding team effort to pull out this victory over a very, very talented Grand Canyon team," head coach Charity Elliott said. "We didn't panic when we were down in the first half and we kept battling to stay in it. We got outstanding efforts from Tiffany and Lauren on the boards and that was really the difference."

Carlisle led four Tritons in double figures, finishing 8-of-19 from the floor and 3-of-7 from the three-point line. The Agoura Hills, Calif. native also finished with five assists, five steals, and three rebounds.

Hunter, a junior transfer from Mira Costa College, was tremendous in her first game as a Triton, converting 5-of-8 shots from the field for 12 points. Ilg also scored 12 and finished with four steals, while Freidenberg added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and hauled in seven boards.

Murphy finished with 30 points to lead all scorers for the defending Pacific West Conference champion Antelopes. She was 11-for-20 from the field and also tallied seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Hardin was 4-for-6 from the field and finished with 13 points.

UCSD shot 45% (28-62) in the game, while Grand Canyon finished at a 42% (24-57) clip. The Tritons were 5-for-15 on threes, while the Antelopes converted just 2-of-15.

The Tritons will now have 12 days off to prepare for their California Collegiate Athletic Association opener against Cal State San Bernardino on December 4 at CSUSB's Coussoulis Arena. The Coyotes were the only team to defeat UCSD in conference play last season.

Grand Canyon unveiled their Pacific West Conference championship banner prior to Saturday's game and former WNBA standout Bridget Pettis was on hand signing autographs.