LOS ANGELES—UC San Diego women's basketball fell to Loyola Marymount, 51-44, in its final game of the LMU Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday afternoon in Gersten Pavilion.
Sydney Brown led the Tritons (2-4) with a season-high 14 points, while
Julia Macabuhay finished with 11.
Alex Obouh Fegue led the Tritons with 11 rebounds (6 offensive) and tallied four of UC San Diego's seven blocks in the contest.
Aishah Brown added seven rebounds, while S. Brown chipped in six boards and three assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego got off to a quick start, scoring the first 12 consecutive points of the contest paced by four points from S. Brown and threes from Macabuhay and Cangelosi. The Lions (2-3) got their first points of the contest with 32 seconds remaining in the period with a three-pointer and two free throws to make it 12-5 at the end of the first quarter.
The Tritons defense held LMU to 1-of-11 from the field in the opening period and forced six Lions turnovers.
UC San Diego continued to battle in the second quarter, holding a six-point lead with 2:12 remaining. The Lions closed out the half with four-straight points to close the gap and UC San Diego went into the intermission leading 20-18.
The Tritons built their lead back to seven early in the third period with baskets from Montgomery, Macabuhay and S. Brown. An eight-point run with 2:55 remaining gave LMU its first lead of the contest but Macabuhay hit back-to-back jumpers to retake the lead for the Tritons.
Macabuhay put up eight of UC San Diego's 15 points in the quarter and the Tritons shot 41 percent (7-of-17) from the field to lead 35-34 heading into the final period.
LMU extended its lead to as many as six points in the fourth quarter before a three from
Emily Cangelosi and layup from Obouh Fegue cut the deficit to one point with 4:32 remaining. The Tritons held the Lions to 1-of-5 from the field but could not convert on the other end, missing six straight in the final minutes.
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"I was proud of our team's effort tonight," said head coach
Heidi VanDerveer. "I thought we came out and played with a lot of energy and focused on what we needed to do defensively. We really got into a defensive rhythm which is really important for our team. However, we did not finish our defensive possessions off, left offensive boards out on the table for them and then didn't take good care of the ball."
"I thought we got great shots and I know that we're capable shooters and I think that we'll knock those shots down in the future. Now we just have to prepare for San Jose State and keep improving. I think we are improving, it's just a matter of putting 40 minutes together offensively and defensively."
UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns to La Jolla to play host to San Jose State on Friday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. PT in RIMAC Arena. 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 has begun a new era 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 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 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
