Fresno Pacific was unable to overcome a 16-point deficit in the second half as the Sunbirds fell 74-59 to Azusa Pacific in conference play.

FPU (4-17, 4-10) was unable to find a rhythm from the field on a night when the team shot just 32.2-percent from the floor. The Sunbirds shot slightly better from three 36.8-perecent, besting their season average by nearly ten percentage points.

 Keairra White led the Sunbirds in scoring with 21 points on 6-23 shooting and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Charde Stevens added 10 points on 2-8 shooting, the only other Sunbird in double digits.

“Tonight really was about the fire and the spirit and the aggression that we do or do not come out with at the start of the game,” said head coach Erin Scholz. “We have been ending our games with a lot of intensity. But we wait to long.”

Azusa Pacific (12-8, 9-3) was led by Hannah Kenny who scored 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds before fouling out of the game with 4:28 remaining and by Kelly Hardeman added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Amanda Sims and Sullivan Ziegler also hit double digits for the Cougars.

Azusa raced out to an early lead scoring the first five points of the game and capitalized on two early turnovers by the Sunbirds. Fresno Pacific got on the board with a White layup and battled back and forth with APU through the first 10 minutes of the half.

The Cougars went on a 13-2 run over the span of four minutes to push their lead to 16, where it would stay for most of the remainder of the half. With under 40-seconds remaining the Sunbirds went on a 6-0 run complete with a half court shot at the buzzer by White that banked in and closed the deficit to nine at the break.

Fresno Pacific forced eight first half turnovers which led to four points off turnovers, a category they would dominate in the second half.

The lead swelled to as many as 16 early in the second half thanks to eight early points by Sims. The Sunbirds continued to battle and chip away at a seemingly insurmountable lead, which they shrunk to 10 with 5:17 remaining on a Kayla Clement three-pointer.

FPU got back into the game thanks to another eight turnovers by APU that led to 13 points on the other end for the Sunbirds.

With 4:20 remaining Lauren Gilster fouled White on a three-point attempt that sent the Sunbirds best free throw shooter to the line for a chance to close the lead to seven. White hit all three of her free throws and the Sunbirds had clawed their way back into the game.

But the Cougars closed the game on a 12-4 run in the final four minutes and closed the door on an FPU comeback.

“The rest of the season still matters,” said Scholz. “Preparing for next season matters. We still have to pay attention to detail, we need to stay focused, and we need to finish as well as Fresno Pacific can.”

Fresno Pacific will be back in action next Saturday when they face Academy of Art on the road in San Francisco, game time is set for 1:00 pm.