The UC San Diego women’s basketball team’s season ended after losing to the Southern Jaguars in the First Four of the NCAA tournament on March 19, 2025.
Soniyah Reed came off the bench to score 19 of her 24 points in the first half when Southern built a big lead that it was able to ride to a 68-56 NCAA Tournament First Four win over UC San Diego on Wednesday night.
The 16th-seeded Jaguars (21-14) won for the first time in seven tournament appearances and go up against overall No. 1 seed UCLA in the round of 64 on Friday.
Reed, who came in averaging under 11 points a game, made 8 of 10 shots including three 3-pointers. Aniya Gourdine shot 7 of 14 and added 17 points and seven rebounds. Tionna Lidge scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The Jaguars shot 49%.
Sumayah Sugapong led UCSD (20-16) with 19 points, making three 3-pointers, and had six assists. Parker Montgomery hit four 3-pointers and added 15 points. The Triton duo combined for 25 second-half points. UCSD, which reached the tournament in its first year of eligibility, shot 34%.
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A 3-pointer by Sabrina Ma and a bucket from Junae Mahan got the Tritons within six with a minute to go before Southern's free throws accounted for the remainder of the scoring.
Montgomery and Sugapong hit a pair of 3-pointers apiece and combined for all but two of UCSD's 20 third-quarter points to cut a 20-point deficit to nine heading into the final period.
The game was tied only at 2-2. Reed, who entered midway through the first quarter, made a trio of 3-pointers and added another bucket in leading the Jaguars to a 19-11 first-quarter edge. Gourdine had a pair of 3-pointers and Reed eight straight points in the second quarter when Southern outscored UCSD 21-9.
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