LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's basketball fell to UC Santa Barbara, 80-66, on Thursday evening in LionTree Arena. The Tritons (1-8, 0-1 Big West) held the lead at halftime but a big third quarter for the Gauchos (6-3, 1-0 Big West) proved to be the difference.
Sumayah Sugapong led the Tritons with 18 points, while
Kayanna Spriggs added 14 and
Gracie Gallegos and
Nicki Polocheck finished with 11 apiece. Spriggs led the team with eight rebounds, while Sugapong, Gallegos and Polocheck collected five each. Sugapong tallied a season-best five assists, while also leading the team with two steals along with
Sabrina Ma.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego took the early lead, 7-3, in the opening two minutes after a three by Sugapong. UCSB responded with a ten-point scoring run to take the lead, 13-7, with 3:39 remaining in the quarter. The Tritons went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 13-13 with two seconds to play. UC Santa Barbara knocked down two free throws to close out the quarter with a 15-13 advantage.
After the Gauchos extended their lead to four, UC San Diego went on a 13-2 scoring run highlighted by back-to-back threes by Polocheck and Gallegos to build its largest lead of the half, 28-21. Another three by both Gallegos and Polocheck held the advantage for the Tritons down the stretch and UC San Diego took a 35-31 lead into the halftime intermission.
The teams traded baskets to open the third quarter before UCSB scored 11 unanswered to retake the lead, 44-37. Three consecutive threes by the Gauchos extended the largest advantage of the contest to that point, 55-40. The Tritons continued to fight down the stretch, but UCSB took a 59-45 lead into the final quarter break. The Gauchos outscored the Tritons 28-10 in the period.
A layup and a three by UC Santa Barbara opened the final period to extend the largest lead of the contest, 64-45. UC San Diego found its rhythm with a six-point scoring run to make it 64-51. The Tritons closed to within 12 but were unable to cut into the deficit further, ultimately falling 80-66.
TRITON TIDBITS
UP NEXT
The Tritons will travel to take on Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday to wrap up Bold Week, before returning to non-conference play for the remainder of December. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics 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.
