On Thursday, Feb. 6, the University of California, Riverside’s (UCR) women’s basketball team shared the court with UC San Diego (UCSD), meeting once more after their close 58-59 loss earlier in January. During their last meet up in La Jolla, UCSD came in strong, with their most notable strength being their defense.
While the Tritons were able to confidently move onward with a big lead, UCR was able to regain control of the game during their third quarter, with both teams now hungry to secure that game-winning bucket. Consequently, it all came down to the final possession — with the ball in their hands, UCSD celebrated as UCR fell just one point short.
Now, weeks later, the Highlander spirit was ignited as the women’s basketball team shared the court with the Tritons once again, determined to take control in home territory.
Both teams opened the first quarter strong, with UCR and UCSD scoring against each other back-to-back. Junior guard Makayla Rose worked very quickly in leading the team ahead with the first three-pointer of the game.
Despite UCSD’s team averaging a height of 6’0”, Rose — standing at 5’7” — used her smaller build to her advantage to be nimble and quick. She consistently blew past the bigger Tritons by using her speed, agility and hustle.
Rose also used her free throws to her advantage, allowing the Highlanders to catch up and make up for UCSD’s aggressive defense, which was growing stronger as the game went on. By the end of the first period, the game was still up for grabs, tied at 12-12.
The second quarter of the game proved to be more challenging, as UCR struggled to keep up with their opponents, who utilized a combination of man-on-man and 2-3 zone defense.
Right away, the Tritons looked to jump passing lanes and steal the ball from the Highlanders. Any steal resulted in UCSD charging forward and passing the ball over to sophomore guard Sumayah Sugapong. Sugapong, who was named the 2023-2024 Big West Freshman of the Year, demonstrated her extensive basketball IQ tonight.
Her excellent court vision allowed her to find teammates on the pick and roll, while her aggressiveness on defense forced turnovers and gave her team waves of momentum. As a result, Sugapong started heating up, generating lots of steals and becoming a shooting threat as the second quarter of the game closed, but Highlanders were only down 31-27 going into the second half.
But UCR struggled to catch up in the third quarter. The team had a fantastic offensive start, as the Highlanders recovered from the four point lead UCSD had taken.
However, as the team kept trying to break through UCSD’s defense, their strategy of playing “all out” and “100 percent” only proved to tire out the team’s strongest players, such as Makayla Rose and Seneca Hackley, who each played 37 minutes.
Whether it was because of the pressure to bring the win home, the intimidation of UCSD’S full court defense or switching from man-on-man defense to 2-3 zone defense, the Highlanders failed to find their rhythm.
Duchemin played a huge role in UCR catching up to UCSD through her control of rebounds, but the Highlander’s offense was ultimately spent, as the Tritons led 48-37 going into the fourth quarter.
As the game progressed, the Highlanders looked worn out, having played the past three quarters with nonstop aggressive energy. At this point in the game, Rose looked spent, but the team continued to rely on her for offense.
Sugapong also looked exhausted, splitting a pair of free throws. However, the biggest difference between both teams was their physical strength, and the Tritons, overpowered UCR.
While the Highlanders started off strong, ending the first quarter with a 12-point tie, the Tritons defense lineup remained unshakable. UCR fell to UCSD with a 72-49 loss.
UCR lost again to California State University, Bakersfield, on Saturday, dropping the Highlanders to 6-7 in the Big West. Both losses weigh heavily as they now land UCR in seventh place in the Big West standings. The Highlanders will have time to reflect and prepare before they face off UC Davis at home this upcoming Thursday.
