Sophomore Keairra White dropped 40 and tied the FPU record for points in a game in the Sunbirds season opener, but it wasn't enough as the Crusaders outlasted Fresno Pacific 80-67.

White led all scorers and Kayla Clement dropped 11 for the Sunbirds (0-1) who only had two scorers reach double figures. Keri Stephanoff added three points and 11 boards for FPU who was outrebounded by Northwest Nazarene (1-0) by 10.

"We have got to work harder in practice. We need to be able to build the capacity to endure for longer periods of time," said head coach Erin Scholz. "Right now our gas tank is just a little to small and when the fatigue sets in we go back to old individual ways. We need to develop more team releationship and more team communication and that will fuel our defense which will fuel our offense. We just had some breakdowns tonight."

Despite being up early in the game Fresno Pacific was unable to stop NNU in the paint which led to a 54-26 disparity in points in the paint in favor of the Crusaders.

The Sunbirds kept it close for most of the half before NNU closed out the frame on a 14-0 run that was started by a bucket in the paint and spurred a run that put FPU down 19 at the break. Fresno Pacific shot just 15.79-percent in the first half on 6-38 shooting.

FPU was able to find a rhythm on offense after the half and shot 47-percent as White scored 30 of her 40 on the night in the second period. Junior Jenay Herring had four of her six assists in the second half as well.

The Sunbirds were able to chip away at NNU's lead but were unable to get closer than 13.

"My experience so far with our team is that they have been responsive to goals we've set," said Scholz. "It won't be easy changes to make overnight but our girls can respond tomorrow."

Fresno Pacific will host the Crusaders again tomorrow; game time is set for 4:00 pm in the Special Events Center.