Leveraging an impressive defense and ability to score points off turnovers, UC San Diego women’s basketball (14-13, 10-5 Big West) overpowered the Cal Poly Mustangs (11-14, 6-9 Big West) last Thursday night, Feb. 20, at LionTree Arena. The Tritons had struggled recently against Cal Poly; their loss earlier this season marked UCSD’s third straight defeat against the Mustangs. This time, however, the Tritons managed to come out on top, winning 66-49, thanks to an explosive third quarter performance.
A victory against UC Davis last week had moved the Tritons up to No. 3 in the Big West. With the specter of the Big West tournament drawing closer, UCSD was eager to keep up its win streak, especially going into the match against No. 8 Cal Poly.
The game began with an unexpected collision — when a Mustang tried to block senior forward Kayanna Spriggs’ layup, the two collided and Spriggs took a hit to the face. Play paused as Spriggs left the court to take a breather.
“I was a little frustrated after that hit very early on,” Spriggs said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “But I know that my team needs me as far as energy and effort on the court; even on the bench, I’m vital. So just being able to turn that frustration into positivity, being able to, luckily, get back on the court, that was the good part of it. And so I just fought back.”
Immediately after, the Tritons swiftly picked up the pace, with sophomore guard Sumayah Sugapong making a steal to pressure the Mustangs. Graduate student guard Parker Montgomery quickly picked up another steal, coaxing Cal Poly into a clear control foul. Sugapong made two free throws off of the foul to put UCSD on the scoreboard, 2-0. Sophomore center Erin Condron, who was substituted in for Spriggs, followed with a layup to extend the Tritons’ early lead.
UCSD kept up the momentum with relentless offensive rebounds. On the fifth Triton shot attempt in a single possession, junior guard Sabrina Ma sank a shot from beyond the arc to bring the Tritons up 11-2. In the last two minutes, Cal Poly only managed to muster up five more points, closing out the first quarter 13-7 in UCSD’s favor.
The Mustangs started off the second quarter on a rough note, committing a player control foul against Sugapong in the first possession. Undeterred, Sugapong netted a layup on the turnover to widen UCSD’s lead. Spriggs drove past Cal Poly’s feeble defense as well, scoring two consecutive layups from inside the paint to bring UCSD up 21-7. The Tritons’ impressive offensive play culminated in a 27-13 second quarter.
UCSD’s defense successfully stifled the Mustangs, who were only able to score 6 and 7 points in the first and second quarters, respectively. The Triton offense also capitalized on Cal Poly’s errors to rack up 21 points off of turnovers throughout the match.
Montgomery began the third quarter by hitting a 3-pointer that brought the Tritons’ lead to 31-13. Cal Poly’s offense stepped up to the challenge, going on an early 7-0 run that prompted a timeout from the Tritons.
Under pressure, the Tritons relied on their steady defense. Spriggs and redshirt sophomore guard Gracie Gallegos contributed six defensive rebounds apiece, which were critical for fending off Cal Poly’s surge early in the third quarter.
UCSD’s offense, which had faltered in the face of the momentum swing, roared back to life when Ma and Montgomery took control. The pair combined to score four 3-pointers in the third quarter, helping UCSD accumulate a 24-point lead, the largest of the game. It was also the Tritons’ highest-scoring quarter, tallying 23 of their 66 total points. UCSD’s explosive third quarter ended 50-32 in its favor.
“We knew what players to shut down, what we needed to do defensively, what we needed to do offensively, and we just stuck to those principles,” Spriggs said. “We locked into our defense.”
The fourth quarter saw the Triton offense put up 16 to the Mustangs’ 17 points. Still, UCSD’s third-quarter dominance was an insurmountable gap for Cal Poly to overcome, and the unwavering Triton defense erased any Mustang hopes of overcoming the double-digit deficit.
Montgomery delivered the dagger, sinking her fourth 3-pointer of the game to close out the match 66-49. UCSD’s victory marked its third consecutive win and was a promising display ahead of the upcoming Big West postseason tournament. Ma finished the game with 14 points, followed closely by Spriggs and Montgomery, who put up 12 apiece.
“After this, we’re just gonna keep on building and building [until] we’re at the Big West tournament, and ultimately, that’s what we’ve been working for this whole entire season,” Spriggs said.
The Tritons fell in a tough 49-44 loss against conference-leading Hawai’i on Saturday night. They will seek redemption at LionTree Arena on Thursday, Feb. 27, against Cal State Northridge, who fell to UCSD 82-44 last month.
With two weeks left in the regular season, UCSD sits at No. 4 seed in the Big West conference standings. The team is positioned to face off against the No. 3 seed at the Big West Championship quarterfinals, scheduled for March 12-15. Though the Tritons trail No. 1 Hawai’i and No. 2 UC Irvine, UCSD looks forward to battling for the Big West title and a possible spot in the 2025 Women’s March Madness bracket.
“This is my favorite time of year,” Spriggs said. “This is what I’ve been waiting for, and I think that we peaked at the right time. We have all the pieces. We’ve been putting it together.”
