SAN DIEGO — Junior forward Eva Ruse scored all 10 of the Toreros' overtime points, but a jumper with six seconds left gave UC San Diego a 90-88 win on Saturday afternoon in the inaugural National University Bill Walton Classic at Pechanga Arena.
The Toreros (1-1, 0-0 WCC) led for nearly 38 of the 45 minutes, built a 16-point lead in the third quarter and had five players score in double figures. UC San Diego (1-1, 0-0 Big West) rallied from 10 points down in the final 1:16 of regulation and tied it at 78 on a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.
Ruse finished with a double-double of 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, plus three blocks, and scored 16 of her points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Jessica Ajayi scored 18 off the bench with four 3-pointers, and Olivia Owens had 15 points and five assists. Kylie Ray added 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Sammie Wagner scored 11.
Saturday's meeting was the first between the crosstown programs since 2009 and a preview of a future conference rivalry, with UC San Diego set to join the WCC on July 1, 2027. The inaugural Classic honors the late Bill Walton, the La Mesa native and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer.
Ajayi's 3-pointer off a Ray assist put San Diego ahead 5-3 with 6:46 left in the first quarter, and the Toreros did not trail again until overtime. Ray scored seven points in the quarter as San Diego took an 18-11 lead. Owens and Lilly Amor hit 3-pointers in an 8-0 run that made it 26-14 with six minutes left in the second.
UC San Diego answered with 10 straight points to pull within 26-24, but Owens' three-point play started a 7-0 run. Ajayi's 3-pointer off an Owens assist with 36 seconds left made it 38-28, and San Diego led 38-30 at halftime.
Owens opened the second-half scoring with a driving layup, and Ajayi hit two more 3-pointers, the second after a Wagner steal, to stretch the lead to 48-32 with 6:49 left in the third. Owens scored seven points in the quarter, and the Toreros took a 57-47 lead into the fourth.
A layup by Ajayi to open the fourth quarter made it 59-47, but UC San Diego scored the next nine points to get within 59-56 with 7:46 left. Wagner ended the run with a driving layup. After the Tritons closed to 64-61, Wagner hit two 3-pointers and Ray added another over a two-minute span, each answering a UC San Diego score. Ruse's putback made it 75-65 with 1:16 to play.
The Tritons hit two 3-pointers in a 10-second span to get within 75-71, and a second-chance layup made it 75-73 with 29 seconds left. Both teams traded pairs of free throws, and Kiera Pemberton's free throw with 21 seconds left made it 78-75 before Cummins' 3-pointer tied it with 10 seconds remaining.
A UCSD layup on the first possession of overtime gave UC San Diego its first lead since the first quarter. Ruse answered with four straight free throws for an 82-80 lead, then blocked two shots on the Tritons' next trip down the floor. Overtime had five lead changes and four ties.
Two layups by UCSD, around a Ruse free throw, put the Tritons back in front 84-83 with 2:37 left. Ruse's 3-pointer off a Wagner assist made it 86-84 with 1:34 to go. UC San Diego tied it on a layup and went ahead 88-86 on two free throws with 50 seconds left, but Ruse tied it again with a layup at the 44-second mark. The Tritons hit the winning jumper in the lane with six seconds left.
Ruse grabbed six of San Diego's 15 offensive rebounds as the Toreros outrebounded the Tritons 45-32 and held a 15-2 edge in second-chance points. San Diego also made 11 of 24 3-pointers, and Owens assisted on four of Ajayi's six field goals.
UP NEXT
San Diego opens its home schedule Tuesday, Nov. 10, against Portland State at 6 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
