Fresno Pacific opened conference play by picking up its first win of the season, defeating Holy Names 84-53 on Thursday night. Jenay Herring had 18 points, seven assists and five steals to lead the Sunbirds (1-4, 1-0 PacWest), while Charde Stevens posted a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Dakota McLarnan added 12 points and Keairra White had 10. FPU shot 50% on the night while holding the Hawks to 31% from the field, including just 23% in the second half. The Sunbirds controlled the boards,  out-rebounding HNU 45-34.

"I was glad to see us get back to the basics," said head coach Lindsey Wilson. "It was a completely different team tonight. We were playing hard, we were moving the basketball and we were playing together. 25 assists is more than double our previous game-high and you love to see that as a coach. We were on the same page offensively and defensively for nearly the entire game."

Garysha Youngblood had 20 points to lead all scorers for the Hawks (1-5, 0-1 PacWest), who struggled against the FPU pressure defense and had 22 turnovers on the night. The Sunbirds turned in a 31-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

FPU jumped out to a 22-9 lead early on, but a 15-4 Hawks run cut the deficit to four. A layup by Danielle Bender just before halftime gave FPU a 36-28 heading into the break. The Sunbirds would pull away in the second half, including eight points by Herring in a two-minute stretch that brought the lead to 26. FPU led by as many as 33.

Megan Lee added six points and six assists in the win while Jasmine Shedrick had eight points and eight rebounds

The Sunbirds host one of the PacWest's top teams, Azusa Pacific, on Saturday at 3 pm. Fans that bring a toy of at least five-dollar value can get into the game for free as part of FPU's Toys For Tots Christmas toy drive.