SF State (4-8) never stood a chance as University of California, San Diego (11-2) cruised to a 93-34 victory, nearly tripling the Gators score. The lead only changed once and the Tritons never gave it back.
“We didn’t talk on defense, that’s how they got open shots and they made pretty much all of them,” said forward Tatsiana Dashkevich.
It seemed like every shot was falling for the Tritons, who shot an efficient 50 percent from the field and 41 percent from the 3-point line.
On the other hand, the Gators couldn’t get a shot to go in while they shot an abysmal 18 percent from the floor. They fared even worse from the 3-point line, missing 18 out of 19 attempts.
“Everybody wasn’t focused really,” said guard Lauryn Catching. “Nobody was talking, so basically it was the way we came out as a team. We have to come out better, come out stronger and we have to come out mentally ready to play.”
Catching led the Gators with a team-high eight points.
Not one Gator notched double digit points, and UCSD had four players score in double digits. The Tritons were led by Jamie Katuna with 16 points.
The Tritons opened up the game with a blazing first quarter, scoring 24 points to the Gators six. UCSD did even better in the second quarter, putting up 25 points while holding the Gators to six again.
Down 49-12 in the third quarter, coach Dennis Cox tried pressuring the Tritons with a full-court press. The pressure seemed to affect the Tritons since the third quarter was their lowest scoring quarter at 18, but the lead was too large to overcome.
“We hadn’t been pressing that much, and when you’re that far down what’s the worst that can happen,” Cox said. “We weren’t effective not pressing so I didn’t think we had anything to lose.”
Although the Tritons had a poor shooting percentage in the first half, they went 20-22 at the free throw line.
Ultimately the Gators couldn’t find any good shots and towards the fourth quarter were jacking up 3’s hoping they’d go in.
The UCSD bench contributed 44 points, outscoring the entire Gators team.
“We have to decide how we’re going to respond to this,” Cox said. “We’re not as bad as we played tonight. We’re better than that.”
