Box score
Big West Champion UC San Diego fell to Southern U. in the First Four of the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship by a final score of 68-56 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. The game featured a clash of No. 16 seeds with the victor advancing to take on No. 1 overall seed UCLA on Friday.

UCSD closes the season at 20-16, the most wins in the DI era. Notably, the Tritons were making their first-ever appearance in the Division I postseason. Along with the men's team, it is the first school in NCAA history with both genders to make the D1 national postseason in their first year of eligibility. 

With the win, Southern improves to 21-14 and lives to dance another day and are now the first SWAC women's basketball game to win a tournament game. 

Big West Championship MVP Sumayah Sugapong led the Tritons with 19 points and a game-high six assists in the loss. Graduate student Parker Montgomery contributed 15 points, including four three-pointers, in a final collegiate contest for UCSD.

Southern started the contest hot, shooting 8-for-13 from the field and 3-for-5 from distance in the first quarter, leading 19-11 after the first period. In the second, the Jaguars were able to extend even further with three more three-pointers and 19 first-half points for Southern's Soniyah Reed, nearly double her season average of 10.0 points per game.

The third quarter opened with UCSD's Montgomery scoring a jumper and a three-pointer within the first minute to set the tone for a second-half rally. Sugapong then scored eight straight points with two consecutive 3-pointers at 6:38 and 6:05 to slice the deficit to 11 midway through the fram. UCSD outscored Southern 20-9 in the period to make it a nine-point margin heading into the fourth. 

UCSD kept pace in the final quarter and had opportunities to close the gap even further after the Tritons' defense forced the turnover after Southern was called for five seconds on the attempted inbounds play with just over a minute to play. Junae Mahan responded with a jumper with 54 seconds to play to set the score at 62-56, but successful trips to the line for the Jaguars and offensive miscues for UCSD were the scenes in the final minute. 

Southern's Reed was the game's top scorer with 24 points on an 8-of-10 shooting night while swishing all five from the line. Aniya Gourdine added 17 points with seven rebounds with Tionna Lidge contributing 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting with six boards as the Jaguars advance to the First Round.