After two disappointing losses at home last week, the UCSD women’s basketball team regrouped to pull out two more wins on the road. The Tritons improved to 10-4 in conference after a 58-54 win against Sonoma State on Thursday and a 63-61 victory against CCAA rival Humboldt State on Saturday.

“This was a huge weekend for us,” head coach Charity Elliott said. “This is one of the toughest trips in the CCAA, and to come out with two wins shows how far this team has progressed.”

The Tritons found themselves in a low-scoring bout on Thursday against the Seawolves. Junior and sophomore guards Chelsea Carlisle and Emily Osga did the bulk of the work on the offensive end, leading all scorers with 19 points apiece while also  grabbing nine rebounds each.

The Tritons went 10-of-23 in the opening period to go up early, shooting a solid 42 percent from the field as opposed to the Seawolves’ paltry 29 percent.  UCSD led by as many as 10 points in the first half, despite good shooting from Sonoma forward Aly Henington, who led the Seawolves in scoring with 15 points on the night.

Sonoma forward Taylor Vigil also put away 10 points, while center Aly Conway chipped in for nine points and 15 boards.

UCSD carried the lead into the second half, until a three-pointer from Henington with 11:13 minutes remaining put the Seawolves up 43-41. From there, the Tritons clamped down on defense, keeping Sonoma scoreless for the next 9:49. The Tritons went on an 11-0 run, and held on for the 58-54 win despite two last-minute three-pointers from Sonoma guard Roxanne Rentschler.

The Tritons finished their road trip with a come-from-behind 63-61 victory over Northern California rival Humboldt State on Saturday.

With 30 seconds remaining, UCSD trailed the Lumberjacks by one point. Guard Daisy Feder came through in the clutch, as the junior sharpshooter drained her third three-pointer of the night to lift the Tritons to their 10th win of their last 13 games.

Feder finished the night with 11 points, while Carlisle — who averages over 18 points a game — was limited to just nine points on the night. Junior forward Lauren Freidenberg picked up the slack, recording her second double-double in her last three games, scoring a game-high 20 points and 17 rebounds.

“Lauren Freidenberg and Daisy Feder had huge games at Humboldt, hitting some big shots down the stretch,” Elliott said. “Humboldt was double teaming Chelsea [Carlisle] most of the night, and Chelsea did a great job of finding an open teammate. And they answered by hitting some big baskets.”

The game was tight for the entire 40 minutes, with the lead changing hands 13 times throughout.

Humboldt dominated the play in the first period, owing in part to solid play from six-foot forward Bree Halsey — who led the Lumberjacks with 10 points and 8 rebounds — and poor Triton shooting. UCSD went 9-37 in the first half, but was able to cut a nine-point Humboldt lead to three by the end of the half.

The Tritons rallied in the second half, shooting 45 percent from the field. Freidenberg also caught fire, scoring 14 out of her 20 points in the second period, while Triton freshman forward Erin Dautremont and freshman guards Nicole Anderson-Jew and Elaina White all made major contributions down the stretch.

Humboldt went on an 8-0 run with just under four minutes remaining, putting the Lumberjacks up by three. A jumper by White, followed by a field goal from Freidenberg, put the Tritons back on top, but a pair of free throws from Jeanette Dewitt gave the home team the advantage with 30 seconds left.

The Tritons pushed the ball down the court, when Anderson-Jew found Feder behind the arc with 14 seconds remaining. Feder knocked down the three-pointer to put the Tritons up 63-61, to hold on to the win.

With the pair of wins, the Tritons improve to 10-4 in the conference, putting them in the fifth position in the California Collegiate Athletics Association.  With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Tritons remain in hot pursuit of a playoff berth.

UCSD will head back home for its next four games. The Tritons will face off against San Francisco State on Thursday, Feb. 3 and Cal State Monterey Bay on Spirit Night, Saturday, Feb. 5.

Readers can contact Rachel Uda at [email protected]