8:13 p.m. Final: Southern 68, UCSD 56. The Tritons briefly cut the lead to 6 points, but the Jaguars’ first-half advantage was too much for UCSD to overcome. Southern advances to Friday’s matchup against UCLA, while the Tritons take the drive back down the I-5 to La Jolla. A historic season ends in disappointment.

8:03 p.m. Ma drills a 3-pointer to cut the Jaguar lead to 8. Mahan banks in a tough layup to briefly make it a 6-point game, but two Southern free throws extend the lead to 8, with 50 seconds remaining. However, Sugapong steps out of bounds on the ensuing possession. Barring a miracle, this game is over.

7:53 p.m. Sugapong drives to the lane but is stripped from behind, and the official questionably awards Southern the ball. With a minute remaining and UCSD trailing 61-51, the Tritons will need a miracle. It has been a magical season for UCSD, but it appears to be ending here in Westwood.

7:42 p.m. The Tritons begin the fourth quarter by missing four straight 3-pointers. The shots are simply not falling for UCSD, who now trail by 12. A comeback is still within touching distance, but the seconds are ticking away.

7:36 p.m. After the Southern lead momentarily grows to 16, the Tritons quickly claw back into the game with a 7-0 spurt to end the period. Montgomery continues what has been a solid half for the graduate student with a transition 3-pointer. Sugapong knocks down two from the charity stripe on the next possession, cutting the lead to single digits. UCSD trails 49-40 as the buzzer sounds. They did well to get back into the game, but the clock is their enemy as they enter the fourth quarter with their work cut out for them.

7:26 p.m. The Triton momentum cools after a dubious foul is called on a Reed 3-pointer. A Triton shot-clock violation on the ensuing possession gives the Jaguars the ball. Southern leads 49-33 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

7:17 p.m. The Tritons come out of the break looking energized, quickly going on a 13-4 run to begin the third quarter. Montgomery started the UCSD burst with a floater in the lane, followed by a 3-pointer from the left wing. Sugapong poured in the next eight, including back-to-back triples. The Tritons have full control of the momentum, cutting the deficit to 44-33 with six minutes remaining in the quarter.

7:12 p.m. The Tritons enter the second half looking shellshocked. Southern leads 40-20, shooting 6-9 from beyond the arc and 17-29 from the field. UCSD, by contrast, has only made  eight field goals on 28 attempts. Soniyah Reed has 19 points off the bench for the Jaguars — one point shy of a season high. Southern carried a pedestrian 29% 3-point shooting percentage into tonight’s matchup but has been unconscious from downtown so far. The Jaguars have 2 points from turnovers, two second-chance points, and no free-throw attempts — their 3-point shooting has just been that dominant. 

Sugapong leads the Tritons in scoring with 6 points, but her minus-20 rating is the team’s worst. Sugapong also leads UCSD in turnovers with three. The Tritons will look to find an offensive rhythm in the second half, but it may be too little, too late.

6:47 p.m. Gallegos briefly stems the bleeding with a nifty spinning left-handed layup. However, the Jaguars’ long-range attack continues, knocking down contested jumper after contested jumper. The Tritons call a timeout as Southern’s lead balloons to 38-17 with two minutes remaining in the first half.

6:36 p.m. Reed finally misses a 3-pointer, giving the Tritons a much-needed defensive stop. This respite does not last long; after trading contested layups with UCSD, the Jaguars drain two more shots from deep to extend their lead to 14. With seven minutes remaining in the half, Southern leads 27-13.

6:28 p.m. The Tritons have finally established some semblance of a rhythm offensively with back-to-back layups from Sugapong and sophomore center Erin Condron. However, the Jaguars have gotten hot from beyond the arc — knocking down three triples in consecutive trips down the court. Jaguar senior guard Soniyah Reed, who has averaged 9.3 points per game this season, already has 11 points in the first quarter. Ma responds by draining a 3-pointer from the wing, but the Tritons trail 19-11 after 10 minutes.

6:18 p.m. Sugapong gets the Tritons on the board with a floater of her own. It has been an incredibly scrappy start to the game, with five turnovers already committed by each team. The Jaguars are frustrating the Tritons by picking them up in a full-court press, leading to uncomfortable possessions and giveaways. The score is 2-2 with just under five minutes remaining in the frame.

6:07 The Jaguars win the tip, and the game is underway. Ma picks off a lazy pass in the opening possession, but Montgomery misses the ensuing 3-pointer. Jaguars star, senior guard Aniya Gourdine, opens the scoring with a floater from the elbow. Southern leads 2-0 with over seven minutes remaining in the quarter.

5:50 p.m. From Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, welcome to March! Join Senior Staff Writer Henry Stanger and Sports Editor Kurt Johnston for live coverage of UCSD women’s basketball’s first-ever March Madness appearance. After competing performances by the Southern University Human Jukebox and the UCSD Pep Band, we are just under five minutes away from tip-off. Sophomore guard Sumayah Sugapong, junior guard Sabrina Ma, graduate student guard Parker Montgomery, redshirt sophomore forward Gracie Gallegos, and senior forward Kayanna Spriggs start for the Tritons.