Two of three women's DI college games scheduled for the Pacific Mountain Conference South came off last weekend, and both were good battles. The Arizona State vs. UCLA game did not occur due to a referee mix-up, but the Bruins made good on a 26-16 victory over UC Santa Barbara and leap-frogged its opponent in the standings. ASU did get to play UC San Diego on Sunday, however, and the hosts held onto a 29-22 win.

The Tritons built a first-half lead that carried the team through a determined Sun Devils side that rallied in the second stanza.

“We came out hard the first half, really trying to control the pace of the game and establish an early lead,” UCSD president Tiffany Zhou said. “However, as the second half progressed, we started to lack in discipline and had a lot of offsides penalties called against us.”

UC San Diego was also slow to support its rucks and Arizona State did well to capitalize on the understaffed breakdowns and force turnovers. With the ample possession, ASU surged with four tries, which earned the team an extra bonus point in the standings.

But UC San Diego remained resolute, and two tries from Jaylin Stevenson, two from Wing Ly and another from Saanijh Ombogo kept the win in hand.

“For the next ASU game, we really need to focus on playing disciplined rugby for all 80 minutes in order to cut down on the penalties and turnovers,” Zhou said.

The two teams will revisit each other on Arizona State’s turf on Feb. 21.