Box Score

Fresno Pacific saw its season come to an end on Wednesday night as the #7-seeded Sunbirds fell on the road 92-56 to #2-seed Azusa Pacific in the first round of the GSAC Tournament.

The Sunbirds, who end the season with a record of 14-17, fell behind early and were never really able to establish a rhythm as the NAIA #12 Cougars advanced to the GSAC semifinals. FPU, which had pushed the Cougars in a 62-61 loss at Azusa just three weeks ago, were without forward Keri Stephanoff, who was coming off a 26-point, 16-rebound performance before suffering an injury in practice.

To make matters worse, leading rebounder Brandi Blackwell picked up two quick fouls in the game's first two minutes and the Cougars had soon opened up a 17-4 lead they would never relinquish.

Jenay Herring did her best to keep the Sunbirds in it, scoring a team-high 18 points with four steals and three assists. Keairra White and Callie Rohrbacker added 17 and 11 points off the bench respectively, but the Sunbirds would be dominated on the glass being out-rebounded 61-32.

APU (23-6) shot near 50 percent in the first half, building up a 48-23 lead while holding the Sunbirds to 23 percent shooting. FPU finished the night shooting 27 percent with 22 turnovers. The lone bright spot on the stat-sheet was the free-throw line, where the Sunbirds made 15-of-17 (88%).

Amber Williams had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Cougars while Briana Hall finished with 18 points. FPU wouldn't get any closer than 22 points in the second half.

"We are a young team being trained in the type of commitment it requires to have success, both individually and as a team," said head coach Erin Scholz. "Although we are improved overall, our team plateaued about 3/4 of the way through the season and did not get better from that point. We lacked mental focus and hunger at the end of the season which resulted in reserved play."

"I hope that we will learn well from this season and be honest with ourselves about whether we gave our best this year or not. I love our girls. At the same time, I expect more."

It was the final game as an NAIA program for the Sunbirds who, along with APU and Point Loma Nazarene, join the NCAA and the Pacific West Conference next season. The future looks bright for the young program as the entire team is expected to return next season after this year's team won 14 games, a six-game improvement on the year before, and made the GSAC Tournament for the first time since 2009.