With a split of its weekend road games, UCSD women’s basketball (5-12, 5-7 California Collegiate Athletic Association) won its fifth game of eight and moved into a tie for seventh place with Cal Poly Pomona in the CCAA.

On Jan. 31, the Tritons shot under 30 percent from the field and attempted 23 fewer free-throws than their opponents, losing to Sonoma State at Seawolf Gym 56-49.

Sonoma State got off to a good start, outscoring UCSD 26-19 in the first half.

“”We never really got into our offensive flow,”” said junior Ali Ginn, who had a team-high 13 points. “”We played good, aggressive defense, but we just couldn’t get a break. The free throws were the difference.””

In the second half, the Tritons made runs at the Seawolf lead, but could never get the momentum to swing fully their way. UCSD’s top scorers, Ginn and senior Nicholle Bromley, fouled out in the second half.

“”It was very frustrating,”” said sophomore forward Karina Siam. “”It will be a good experience for when we play [Sonoma State] at home.””

For UCSD, Margaret Johnson pulled down eight rebounds to go along with six points. Freshman point guard Bianca Watson had a career-high five assists.

“”We weren’t taking the ball up strong, but there were some weird fouls called,”” said Bromley, who had eight points and seven rebounds in the game. “”Our defense was really good. [Sonoma State] is a very strong, fundamentally sound team.””

UCSD shot 3-for-4 from the free-throw line and didn’t shoot one in the second half, while Sonoma State shot 17-for-27 from the charity stripe. The Tritons were called for 25 fouls to the Seawolves’ 14.

The loss in Sonoma put UCSD in a conference tie with San Francisco State. But that tie would last only about a day. With a scoring boost off the bench and four players in double figures, UCSD took out the Gators in San Francisco 87-74 on Feb. 1.

“”Everything was firing,”” said Siam, who scored 17 points in only 20 minutes of play. “”We exposed holes in their defense and took advantage.””

The Gators had the lead with 7:54 left in the first half at 25-23, but the Tritons finished the half with a 23-9 run to lead by 12 at the break.

“”Their defense was tough at first,”” said Bromley, who had 11 points and five rebounds on the night. “”But once we figured it out, we got a lot of open shots.””

San Francisco State closed the deficit to nine points with 15:33 left, but the Gators wouldn’t get any closer and the Tritons cruised to an 87-74 conference victory.

“”It was a fun game,”” said Ginn, who had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. “”They had two good post players. Our posts did a good job on them.””

Watson contributed off the bench to eclipse her career-high in assists from the previous night with seven and also had three steals. Lauren Sargent provided a spark off the bench as well with 13 points in nine minutes of play.

“”Bianca [Wilson] had a really good weekend,”” Bromley said of the reserve guard. “”She stepped it up big time. This was a fun win.””

The Tritons will be on the road again next weekend to face CSU Bakersfield and CSU Stanislaus.