After traveling more than 1,800 miles to play its First Four game against UC San Diego, the Southern women's basketball team looked right at home Wednesday night.
The Jaguars took control with red-hot shooting in the first half and withstood every run the Tritons came up with in the second half. The result was a 68-56 win, the first for Southern in seven trips to the NCAA Tournament.
The win advances No.16-seeded Southern (21-14) into a first round game on Friday. The Jaguars will face UCLA, the No. 1 overall seed at 9 p.m. Friday.
After the game was tied 2-2, Southern led the entire game. UC San Diego (20-16) trailed 40-20 at the half, but sliced the deficit to 49-40 entering the fourth quarter. The Tritons got as close as 62-56 with one minute left.
Southern made 6 of 8 free throws in the closing seconds to hold off the Tritons.
Soniyah Reed scored 19 of her career-high 24 points in the first half. Aniya Gourdine added 17 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. Tionna Lidge made 6 of 8 shots on her way to 12 points.
For the game, Southern made 25 of 51 shots (49%) and outrebounded UCSD 36-29.
Sumayah Sudapong led UCSD with 19 points.
Southern made 1 of 4 shots to open the game. After that, Reed found her rhythm and the rest of the team followed along. She made three first-quarter 3-pointers and the Jaguars took a 19-11 lead into the second quarter.
After UCSD cut its deficit to 19-13, Southern went on an 11-0 run. Aniya Gourdein and Aleighyah Fontenot made 3-pointers and Reed continued her run making baskets on four consecutive possessions during one stretch.
Southern ended the half shooting 58% from the field and led 40-20 at halftime. Defensively, Southern held the Tritons to 28% from the field.
