SAN DIEGO—UC San Diego women's basketball fell in a tightly contested, 68-67, game against Montana to close out the non-conference schedule at the USD Winter Classic on Thursday afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Tritons (4-7) held a 10-point lead late into the fourth quarter before the Grizzlies (6-3) completed a late comeback. 
 
Sumayah Sugapong recorded her second 20+ point performance of the week, recording a career-high 25 points. Parker Montgomery and Denali Pinto also finished in double-figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. Katie Springs tallied a game-high 11 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Sugapong finished with four assists and two steals, while Montgomery added three assists and two steals. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Montana came out red hot to start the contest, jumping out to an early 16-0 lead. The Tritons found a bit of rhythm midway through the quarter to get on the board but the Grizzlies still led by 15 with 3:26 to play in the period. UC San Diego closed out the quarter with three straight threes—one from Gallegos and back-to-back from Pinto—to cut the deficit to seven, 21-14. 
 
The Tritons carried the momentum into the second quarter, opening on a 9-3 run to cut the deficit to one point, 24-23. With 6:11 on the clock, UC San Diego scored six unanswered—including four-straight points for Katie Springs—to take its first lead of the contest, 29-27. The Tritons closed out the period with an 11-0 run—including three consecutive threes once again—and took a 40-30 lead into the halftime break. 
 
UC San Diego outscored the Griz 26-9 in the period, shooting 56 percent from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point range. The Tritons forced six turnovers and held Montana to just 3-of-12 (25 percent) from the floor.
 
The Tritons opened the second half scoring on back-to-back possessions to build their largest lead of the contest, 44-30. With UC San Diego maintaining a 12-point lead midway through the quarter, the Grizzlies scored six-unanswered to cut the lead in half, 50-44. The teams battled down the stretch before the Tritons went on a 4-0 run to close out the period and extend their lead back to double-digits, 56-46.
 
UC San Diego maintained a 10-point advantage as late as 5:05 in the final quarter before Montana mounted a late comeback. The Griz closed out the contest on a 12-2 run to gain the slim edge, 68-67. The Tritons got one more chance with 8.7 seconds on the clock but were unable to come up with the game-winner.
 
QUOTABLE
"While we're very disappointed about the end result today, I give our team a lot of credit for showing a lot resiliency, a lot of grit and a lot of growth," said UC San Diego head coach Heidi VanDerveer. "Obviously Montana got off to an extremely hot start. They've been playing very well. We clawed our way back into the game and some people made big plays for us throughout." 
 
"Sumayah [Sugapong] again showed she's a very savvy guard—especially for her age as a true freshman. Parker [Montgomery] and Denali [Pinto] have been consistent for us and I thought Katie [Springs] came in and gave us great minutes. She's had a great two game stretch for us—especially the 11 rebounds today—and played excellent defense. And we had some young kids grow significantly, Eri [Blithikioti] and Erin [Condron] even though they had limited minutes today, showed that they can compete. And then obviously Gracie Gallegos in these past two games had an excellent week of growth and established herself as someone we can count on moving forward into Big West play."

TRITON TIDBITS

• Sumayah Sugapong recorded a new career high for the second straight game with 25 points—her second 20+ point game in as many days.
• Katie Springs recorded her sixth game with double-figure rebounds. 
• The Tritons held the advantage in rebounds (34-27), second chance points (16-8), bench points (15-5) and points in the paint (20-14). Montana had the edge in points off turnovers (25-12) and made threes (13-8). 
• UC San Diego starters were Eri Blithikioti, Izzy Forsyth, Parker Montgomery, Denali Pinto and Sumayah Sugapong.

UP NEXT 
UC San Diego will begin Big West play on Dec. 28 on the road at Cal State Bakersfield. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with 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 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.