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History
LA JOLLA, Calif.— UC San Diego women’s basketball defeated Cal Poly, 75-54, on Thursday afternoon in LionTree Arena. The Tritons (7-5, 2-0 Big West) celebrated the new year with a dominating performance over the Mustangs (2-11, 0-3 Big West).
Three Tritons scored in double figures, led by Rosa Smith with 21 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals. Erin Condron tallied 14 points and led the team with six rebounds, adding one block and one steal. Sabrina Ma added 12 points and a team-best two blocks, while Junaé Mahan chipped in seven points, four rebounds and one steal.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams traded baskets to begin the contest before the Tritons got a spark with back-to-back buckets from Smith. A steal-and-score and three-pointer gave UC San Diego the 9-3 advantage midway through the quarter. Condron scored five for the Tritons down the stretch for a 14-7 lead at the first quarter break.
UC San Diego continued to apply pressure in the opening minutes of the second period, scoring on back-to-back possessions by Smith and Niya Price to lead 19-7. The Tritons put together another five-point run midway through the quarter to build their largest lead of the half, 26-11. The Mustangs found some rhythm late in the period with a pair of three pointers and a layup to cut the lead back to single digits, 28-19. The Tritons responded with back-to-back threes by Mahan and Ma in the final minute to lead, 34-19, at the half.
The teams traded baskets all the way to the media timeout in the third period, with UC San Diego leading 42-27 at the midpoint. The Tritons maintained a 14-point advantage under the two-minute mark before Smith caught fire from three-point range. The redshirt junior went three-for-three from beyond the arc to highlight a 10-point scoring run to end the period. UC San Diego took a 57-33 advantage into the final quarter break.
The Tritons continued to apply pressure early in the final period, with back-to-back layups from Smith and Ma and a three-point play from Nicki Polocheck to lead, 64-37. Ma hit a three-pointer with 5:50 on the clock to give UC San Diego its largest lead of the contest, 67-39. Cal Poly rallied with a 9-2 scoring run midway through the period, but the Tritons maintained their advantage down the stretch to win, 75-54.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Rosa Smith recorded her second 20-point game of the season and match her season high with eight assists.
- UC San Diego had the advantage in points off turnovers (21-3), second chance points (15-10), bench points (21-13), fast break points (20-6) and points in the paint (36-26), as well as rebounds (38-36).
- The Tritons are now 8-5 in the all-time series (8-4 in D-I) with Cal Poly.
- UC San Diego starters were Erin Condron, Sabrina Ma, Dymonique Maxie, Makayla Rose and Rosa Smith.
- Lev Feiman returned to action for the first time since late November.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will travel to face Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, Jan. 8 and host UC Riverside on Saturday, Jan. 10. The games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
