UC San Diego women’s basketball (13-6, 8-1 Big West) fell 66-62 to UC Davis (14-6, 7-2 Big West) in its first conference loss of the season on Thursday, ending the team’s six-game winning streak. After amassing a 10-point lead in the first quarter, the Tritons slowly lost control of the game, giving the Aggies numerous chances to scale the deficit.
“We put ourselves in positions to win, but we just need to make a few more plays,” head coach Heidi VanDerveer said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “We got great shots, and we just need to put quality stops together with some greater offensive execution.”
As the period progressed, the Tritons crowded the paint whenever an Aggie stepped in, snuffing out layup opportunities. The Tritons held their opponents to just 11 points in the opening period while putting up 21 themselves.
Junior center Erin Condron, redshirt junior guard Rosa Smith, and senior guard Makayla Rose pushed the team to success in the first half. Smith called the plays and relied on her precision shooting while Rose blazed past the Aggies to nab steals and drive to the basket. Condron used her size to get layups and pass to the guards.
“Inside, Erin has established herself as a premier player in our league,” VanDerveer said. “Our guards are relentless defensively, I feel like we have the pieces to compete.”
However, the Tritons fell a step behind in the second quarter, allowing the Aggies to shoot 8-13 from the field while only making six of their 16 attempts. With its early lead cut in half, UCSD entered halftime with questions surrounding its production — namely, if it could regain momentum and take this game out of the Aggies’ reach.
UCSD couldn’t find its footing in the third quarter, despite getting many chances. Senior guard Sabrina Ma kicked off the half with a pirouette jumpshot, 36-40. However, for the five minutes following Ma’s basket, the Tritons couldn’t score at all.
The team’s defense held up well, forcing turnovers and limiting the Aggies to just 11 points, though UCSD only scored 10 in return. Additionally, Aggie redshirt senior center Megan Norris started to dominate the key, capitalizing on her size advantage in one-on-one opportunities to obtain layups and rebounds. Norris finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds while also adding three steals and three blocks on defense; she led the Aggies in every major statistical category. Heading into the fourth 44-48, UCSD desperately needed to improve its shooting and defending the paint.
With 10 minutes left to play, the Tritons’ game plan was gung-ho — shoot, shoot, shoot. Ma lit up the net with a quick 3-pointer, but UCSD’s blunders continued as the Tritons whiffed the next nine shots. Meanwhile, the Aggies built a 6-point lead and assumed control of the game.
Down 6 points with 30 seconds left to play, Condron stared down the net from the center of the 3-point line and let it fly. The ball hung in the air before crashing down into the basket, giving the home team and crowd a breath of hope.
Nonetheless, hope only went so far. UCSD fouled out of the game, and UCD went home with a 66-62 win.
The Tritons bounced back on the road on Saturday, earning a 68-66 conference win against UC Irvine, ending the Anteaters’ 16-game hot streak. Currently tied with UCI for first in the Big West, UCSD will head up the coast to play UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, Jan. 29.
