UC San Diego women’s basketball (1-1, 0-0 Big West) cruised past Denver (0-2, 0-0 Summit) 72-54 in its home opener at LionTree Arena on Friday, Nov. 7.
Despite a pedestrian first-half performance, the Tritons put up an explosive 31-point third quarter on their way to the homecoming victory. The win was a stark contrast to Monday night’s 69-66 loss to Pacific, when the Tritons went 4 for 25 in 3-point attempts to kick off the season. Senior guard Sabrina Ma led the Tritons with 19 points and three 3-pointers in six attempts — a significant step forward from her 5-point performance in Monday’s underwhelming season-opener against Pacific.
Before tipoff, King Triton unveiled the 2025 Big West Championship banner to honor the defending conference champions. The arena buzzed with energy and hope for another impressive season.
Despite open looks, UCSD’s offense came up short on 3-point attempts until halfway through the first quarter when Ma picked up an offensive rebound and nailed a shot from beyond the arc. UCSD ultimately shot 5 for 20 from the field in a disheartening first quarter.
Meanwhile, an aggressive defense cost UCSD more than it gained. Where the Pioneers couldn’t get uncontested shots, they got free throws — drawing five Triton fouls in the first eight minutes. By the end of the game, UCSD had committed 26 fouls — its second most in a game since transitioning to Division I.
UCSD’s only solace was the Pioneers’ inability to convert from the line. Denver had a 54.5% free-throw percentage throughout the match, which helped the Tritons cling to a 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
This advantage was short-lived, as the Pioneers went on a 7-0 scoring run to begin the second quarter. The shots simply weren’t falling for UCSD, who went 7 for 18 in field goal attempts in the second quarter. The Tritons only maintained a narrow 28-25 lead going into the break thanks to Denver’s similarly dismal 3-for-11 shooting.
However, the Tritons roared to life in the third quarter, finally putting some distance between themselves and the Pioneers. Freshman guard Lev Feiman began the UCSD burst with a jumper from in the paint. On the next possession, Ma drained a 3-pointer on an assist from Feiman. After that, the Tritons ran away with the game.
“I thought in the first half we were a little tight, especially in the first quarter,” head coach Heidi VanDerveer said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “I think we relaxed. Sabrina Ma opened it up for us a little bit. We got out, we came off, and scored. Lev scored right away. I thought we were a lot more aggressive with purpose in the second half.”
Junior center Erin Condron and Ma, the only Triton starters returning from last season’s Big West Championship team, led the charge for UCSD’s third-quarter surge. The homecoming crowd went wild as a Condron layup and a Ma 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions sparked UCSD’s 8-0 scoring run. Not to be outdone, Feiman made another 3-pointer from downtown on a pass from junior guard Dymonique Maxie to put the Tritons up by 16 only four minutes into the quarter.
“I’m glad [the fans] didn’t leave after the first quarter because we gave them a good show for three,” VanDerveer said.
UCSD’s lead ballooned to 18 by the end of the explosive third quarter. The Tritons had put up 31 points to Denver’s 16, changing the game in a mere 10 minutes.
Denver struggled to match UCSD’s second-half ferocity in the fourth quarter. The Tritons capitalized on a weak Pioneer offense to score 20 points off turnovers throughout the game. With less than three minutes on the clock, freshman guard Niya Price scored from inside the paint to bring UCSD up 70-45. The 25-point advantage was the Tritons’ largest lead of the game.
“We always hang our hat on our defense,” VanDerveer said. “We’re not going to get beat by one person. We’re going to commit to playing team defense. We took a ton more shots than Denver. We forced turnovers. We get out and run. The philosophy of our program, specifically with this group, is ‘slow feet don’t eat.’ And we got a lot of quick feet.”
Denver remained offensively unresponsive with the exception of Pioneer junior guard Jocelyn Medina, who scored the last 6 points of the game. Still comfortably ahead, the Tritons basked in their decisive 72-54 homecoming victory.
UCSD will be back in action against Cal State Sacramento at home on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
