Fresno Pacific led for the majority of the night, but dropped a hard-fought game 66-57 to second-place BYU Hawaii on Thursday night. The Sunbirds (2-12, 2-7 PacWest) led by as many as 10 points in the first half and maintained a lead up until the 13-minute mark of the second half. However, foul trouble to starting point guard Jenay Herring played a major factor as the Seasiders came storming back with an 18-5 second-half run.

The Sunbirds jumped out to an early lead behind hot shooting from Dakota McLarnan and Herring, going ahead 12-4 and later extending the lead to 23-13. Herring picked up three fouls in quick succession however, then was handed a fourth right before halftime. With FPU's leading scorer off the floor, the Seasiders closed the gap, tying up the game 31-31. McLarnan drained a three before halftime to give FPU a 34-31 lead heading into the locker room.

"The first half I thought we did a lot of good things," said head coach Lindsey Wilson. "Against a team as good as BYU you have a small margin for error and you can't expect to get out-rebounded by 16 and win. It's all stuff we can fix, and our effort is really good. We're making strides every day and I think we're getting better, we're just still not where we need to be."
The Sunbirds maintained a slim lead for the first seven minutes of the second half, but the Seasiders would pull away by using their size to their advantage and capitalizing on second-chance points.

McLarnan scored a season-high 22 points, including 7-of-9 from three-point range, to lead FPU with Herring adding 11 points and five assists in just 15 minutes of action. Keairra White and Taylor Caspers added nine points apiece. Jasmine Shedrick had a team-high seven rebounds and four blocks. Abrina Salas dished out five assists.

"When she shoots it we all think it's going in," said Wilson. "She's such a great shooter but what people don't realize is how good she is on the defensive end. She was matched up with their best player for most of the night. Not many players can play 38 minutes going the full length of the court the whole time like that."

Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo led the Seasiders (11-5, 8-2 PacWest) with 18 points. Mata Tonga added a double-double of 12 points and 14 boards. BYUH out-rebounded the Sunbirds 46-30 in the win.

The Sunbirds will look to snap their current five-game losing streak this Saturday as they host Hawaii Hilo at 5:30 pm.