In their first year of NCAA Division I eligibility, the UC San Diego Tritons (20-15) punched their ticket to women’s March Madness with a 75-66 win over UC Davis in the Big West Tournament championship game.
UCSD had a roller-coaster path over its last three days in Henderson, Nevada, as the Tritons came into the tournament as the No. 4 seed. This gave the Tritons a first-round bye, setting up a quarterfinal matchup against Cal Poly on Thursday.
Even as the higher seed, UCSD was on the ropes from the beginning of this game. Cal Poly put together one of their best performances of the season and was able to keep the Tritons at an arm’s length distance away.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Cal Poly held a three-point lead and had never trailed all day. With their season in the balance, the Tritons looked to their star and San Diego native, Sumayah Sugapong, who delivered. Sugapong erupted for a season-high 29 points and powered the Tritons across the finish line. In a single elimination format, it doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you find a way to do it; and in a game where UCSD only led for 1:10, the Tritons found a way to edge out the Mustangs 59-54 to advance to the semifinals against No. 1 seed, Hawaii.
In an opposite fashion than the day before, the Tritons jumped out on the Rainbow Warriors from the start. With two extra days of rest, Hawaii came out of the gates sluggish and UCSD cashed in on the opportunity. The Tritons ended the first quarter with a 22-4 lead and stretched that lead to 23 points at halftime.
While everything was going UCSD’s way in the first half, the top-seeded Rainbow Warriors refused to go down without a fight. After a third quarter that cut UCSD’s lead to 18, Hawaii came out red hot to start the 4th, and the Tritons went ice cold. Hawaii went on a 15-0 run to start the fourth and cut the Tritons’ lead to three, yet with their momentum stalled, UCSD went back to their best weapon, Sugapong, to get them back on the board. While a layup ended the quarter’s scoreless streak, Hawaii continued to roll and tied the game at 49-49 where the game stood with nine seconds left on the clock. In the biggest possession of the year and the fate of the season on the line, Sugapong once again created separation with the ball in her hand and hit a buzzer-beating layup to advance the Tritons to the Big West championship game. Sugapong, along with Sabrina Ma and Parker Montgomery, played all 40 minutes and accounted for 73% of the Tritons total scoring. The play of those three boosted the Tritons to a matchup against the UC Davis Aggies in the finals.
The game against UC Davis was a rematch of the regular-season finale in which the Tritons lost on their senior day to the Aggies. In that game, UCSD had multiple ten points leads vanish and the Aggies stole a cathartic win at LionTree Arena. Destined to avenge the tainted senior day, the Tritons were firing on all cylinders and never looked back.
The Tritons got excellent play from Gracie Gallegos, who scored 25 points, while going 12-14 from the free throw line as well. Ma and Montgomery added outside shooting to the offensive attack, too by combining for four three pointers and 19 points. Paired with the success on the offensive side of the ball, it was the Tritons’ defense that forced 11 turnovers and halted the Aggies premier one-two duo of Tova Sabel and Megan Norris.
A complete team effort for UCSD was a perfect way to cap off the tournament and cement their first Division I March Madness bid in school history, as the Tritons defeated the Aggies 75-66.
The Tritons’ defense, along with timely scoring, will be a key to make a deep run into March. If UCSD can find a way to complement Sugapong’s stardom, then they will have an opportunity to make a Cinderella run.
Limited tickets available. Click here to learn more.
Who: UCSD vs. Southern
Date: Wednesday, March 19
Time: 6:00 pm PDT
Where: Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles
Watch: ESPNU or in person, limited tickets here.