Despite a hard-fought effort, Cal Poly Women’s Basketball couldn’t get the job done on Thursday, Jan. 19, suffering a 70-58 loss to UC San Diego inside LionTree arena.
The loss was the Mustangs’ (5-10, 2-5 Big West) third straight on the road, while the win gave the Tritons (8-9, 5-2 Big West) their fourth straight against Cal Poly dating back to 2021.
At first, it seemed as though the Mustangs would continue their losing ways against the Tritons. A disappointing first quarter left them down by a score of 19-9 and saw them manage only a 21.4% (3-for-14) field goal percentage.
This trend continued into the second quarter, as the Green and Gold found themselves losing by a tally of 23-13 with 6:47 left in the half.
However, it was there that Cal Poly seemed to flip a switch. From that point on, they held the Tritons to three points the rest of the half and scored 14 points of their own, eight via graduate guard Oumou Toure, to take a 27-26 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the intermission, it appeared as though the fans in attendance were in for a back-and-forth contest the rest of the way. After UCSD scored six straight points to begin the third quarter and take a five-point lead, the Mustangs immediately responded with a 7-4 run of their own to tie it at 36 with 5:19 to go in the quarter.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Mustangs got. The Tritons then went on a 14-4 run over the final five minutes of the quarter to make it 50-40, and take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Despite several attempts by the visiting Mustangs at making the game close during the final 10 minutes, it proved futile. While a 9-3 run by the Mustangs to open the quarter trimmed the Triton lead down to four, a UCSD three from Julia Macabuhay with 2:42 to go gave the Tritons a 65-55 lead, and effectively sealed the game in their favor.
Three minutes and a 5-3 run later, the loss was official by a tally of 70-58.
Despite just the 12-point defeat, the Mustangs were thoroughly dominated for the entirety of the game. They were outshot from beyond the arc, at just 21.4% (3-for-14) compared to UC San Diego’s 36% (9-for-25) while shooting 37.7% (20-for-53) from the field compared to the Tritons’ 42.9% (21-for-49).
Also, while Cal Poly did give up fewer turnovers with 11 and scored more bench points (38-19), they were out-rebounded 33 to 29.
Individually, Toure and sophomore guard Jazzy Anousinh were the only Mustangs in double-digit scoring, dropping 20 and 11, respectively. Sophomore guard Sydney Bourland added in a solid all-around performance with nine points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Up next, the Mustangs will look to get back in the win column when they return home to face the UC Davis Aggies on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. inside the Mott Athletics Center.