Southern defeats UC San Diego women 68-56 for its first NCAA Tournament win in seven appearances

LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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%.

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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