SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team takes their 2-0 league record to UC San Diego to open up week two of Big West play. Following their game on Thursday night against the Tritons the Gauchos will host Cal Poly for the first of two matchups in the Blue-Green rivalry this season.
LAST TIME OUT
Last time the Gauchos took the floor they were wrapping up their four-game homestand against UC Riverside. In the opening week of Big West action UC Santa Barbara defeated UC Davis and UC Riverside to start 2-0 in league competition. This is the first time since the 2017-18 season that UC Santa Barbara has started 2-0 in conference.
TACKLING THE TRITONS
UC San Diego had just one game last week in which they lost 52-48 to Cal State Bakersfield, in Bakersfield. UC San Diego is 4-8 overall and 0-1 in The Big West. They have wins over Life Pacific, La Sierra, San Diego State and Boise State.
Despite having a sub-.500 record, UC San Diego is one of three teams with a positive scoring margin. The Tritons post a +2.08 margin of victory per game. The Gauchos lead that stat category with a +9.17 margin. Their offense sits in the middle of the pack in all three shooting categories (field goal, three point and free throw). On the defensive end of the floor, UCSD ranks third in blocks and has the best defensive rebounding percentage of any team in the Big West.
Leading the charge for the Tritons is Sumayah Sugapong. Sugapong was named The Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week in the final week of non-conference play for The Big West. The freshman currently averaged 14.7 points and 2.3 assists per game. The Tritons have two other players, Izzy Forsyth and Denali Pinto who both average 10.9 per game. The trio accounts for 57 percent of the UCSD points this season.
BLUE-GREEN RIVALRY (PART ONE)
The Mustangs will travel to The Thunderdome on Saturday, Jan. 6 for the first of two meetings this season. Cal Poly will travel to Long Beach State before working their way back up to UC Santa Barbara. The Mustangs enter the second weekend 6-6 overall and are one of three teams (UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine) to start 2-0 in conference play.
Despite ranking sixth in defensive rebounds per game and fourth in offensive rebounds per game the Mustangs enter this weekend with the best-rebounding margin in The Big West, sporting a +4.2 margin. Cal Poly shoots the ball at a .418 clip from the floor and .361 percent from three, which ranks fourth and second respectively in The Big West.
The Mustangs have two players averaging in double figures this season. Annika Shah and Natalia Ackerman average 12.4 and 11.8 respectively. Shah also posts 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game while Ackerman grabs 8.4 rebounds and averages nearly two blocks per contest.
FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos take on UC San Diego on Thursday, Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. inside the LionTree Arena on the campus of UC San Diego. Following Thursday's contest, UC Santa Barbara will host Cal Poly inside The Thunderdome on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 4 p.m. Both games will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats also available.
