The UC San Diego women’s basketball team traveled to Azusa, CA over the weekend to take on Western Washington and Seattle Pacific as part of the West Region Crossover Classic, all part of its non-conference play before league starts in a couple of weeks. UCSD went 1–1 over the course of two days, Friday and Saturday, as they took a 56–49 victory over Western Washington and a 65–69 loss to Seattle Pacific. With the results, the Tritons move on to 3–1 on the season.
Game v. Western Washington
UCSD defeated Western Washington for its third-straight victory, although it was not the Tritons’ finest display of basketball early on in the season.
On its way to the win, UCSD shot the ball 35.5 percent from the field (22–62), while holding its opponents to a mere 22.7 percent (17–75). Senior forward Dalayna Sampton recorded a double-double, notching a game-high 16 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore forward Mikayla Williams also put up a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
After a slow start to the game, the first quarter ending 12–8 in favor of Western Washington, the Tritons had a dominant second quarter, outscoring the Vikings 22–9 to take a 30–21 lead to halftime.
UCSD only scored half the amount of points in the third, with 11 as a result of its worst shooting quarter of the game of 26.3 percent from the field after a 50 percent shooting second quarter. The inconsistent shooting narrowed the lead down to three, 41–38 going into the last quarter. Once again, the Tritons were resilient and had a much better fourth quarter, shooting 42.9 percent and maintaining their lead to earn the victory.
Game v. Seattle Pacific
Both teams entered the Saturday contest with a 3–0 record — unfortunately UCSD was the one to falter as Seattle Pacific edged them out 65–59.
Junior guard Joleen Yang bounced back tremendously from Friday’s game with 17 points including 5–9 from behind the arc. Williams and Sampton combined for 17 points and 24 rebounds, but they could not find the same amount of offensive success they had the day before.
The Tritons dug themselves into a hole in the first quarter, entering the second quarter with a 12 point deficit, 23–15. Seattle Pacific maintained the lead throughout most of the game, eventually earning the victory.
At the conclusion of the tournament, Sampton was named to the West Region Crossover Classic All-Tournament.
Next up, the Tritons will host the UCSD Thanksgiving Classic. They will play against Dominican on Friday, Nov. 24 at 5 p.m. and then against Azusa Pacific on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 3 p.m.
