It was Pink Night for breast cancer awareness at the UC San Diego’s women’s basketball game (12–15, 9–8 Big West) this past Thursday. The UCSD Tritons were up against the UC Irvine Anteaters (21–5, 13–2 Big West), a very strong competitor. They showed effort defensively and were shooting the lights out at the perimeter. The Tritons kept it close all night, only letting the lead escape them late in the fourth quarter after a couple of unfortunate turnovers. UCSD delivered a strong performance against a fierce opponent, but a few errors put them just short of a win.
The Tritons started this game off hot by scoring 21 points, half of which came from the 3-point line. The Anteaters trailed just behind them by scoring at a very efficient level within the paint. The majority of their points in this quarter came from the paint and the strong presence of their forwards. This first quarter ended with graduate student wing Sydney Brown getting fouled and making her 2 free throws. As the horn blew for the end of the first quarter, the scoreboard read 18–21, leaving the Tritons up 3.
The second quarter started off rough for both teams as they were scoreless through the first 3 minutes of the quarter because of good defense and bad offense from both teams. Unfortunately for the Tritons, they committed a foul that sent UC Irvine to the line for 2 free throws and catalyzed their comeback. The Anteaters went on an 11–0 run, pushing their lead to 29–21 with 3:27 left in the quarter. Fortunately for the Tritons, freshman guard Grace Talbot was able to sink a 3-pointer to bring the Tritons within reach of UC Irvine. A big steal from Brown enabled the Tritons to get a good offensive possession going which ended with a 3-point shot from sophomore guard Izzy Forsyth. This 3 was able to pull the Tritons within 2 points of the Anteaters at the end of the second quarter, leaving the scoreline at 29–27 at half-time.
The Tritons stumbled at the beginning of the third quarter as they fell down by 11 points in just the first half. At this point, the Tritons called a timeout to reset and refocus on reinvigorating their offense. This is where Brown and junior guard Parker Montgomery scored back-to-back 3’s to bring them back within 5 points of their opponent. After a huge defensive rebound from Brown, the Tritons were able to get a pass out to redshirt senior guard Emily Cangelosi, who nailed a 3 to bring the game within 2 points. UCSD’s ability to shoot the 3-point shot had been their saving grace in this game. The quarter ended soon after with free throws from the Tritons to set the score at 45–41 and go into the fourth quarter with a win within striking distance.
The start of the fourth saw UC Irvine going to the midrange and sinking a couple of jumpers to push their lead to 6, 49–43. Luckily, the Tritons had Forsyth in the game who went on a mini-scoring run on her own. After hitting a big 3 to bring the game within 2, Forsyth got her own rebound and laid in a shot for an and-one to give the Tritons the lead at 52–51. Unfortunately for the Tritons, this would be the last time they scored in the game as UC Irvine went on an 8–0 run to close the game. UCSD was unable to energize their offense in the final 2 minutes of the game, leading to multiple turnovers that helped UC Irvine turn the game decisively in their favor. The Tritons lost by a score of 60–52.
Although the Tritons fell in this game, there are positives to take away with their defensive intensity and their shooting accuracy. Moving forward, the Tritons need to clean up their paint presence both offensively and defensively, where they gave up 32 points and only scored 10 points.
They were playing a strong UC Irvine team, and they were able to keep the game extremely competitive throughout, so overall, it’s a positive sign for this team. If the Tritons can go back to the drawing board and clean up their mistakes, they can compete with anyone in the Big West. The UCSD women’s basketball team’s next game will be Thursday, March 2 when they go on the road to face Cal Poly at 6 p.m..
Image Courtesy of Justin Lu
