ARCATA, Calif. - Fresno Pacific faced off against one of the West Region's toughest and most experienced teams on Friday, falling 97-51 in the season opener against Western Washington in the PacWest/GNAC Challenge hosted by Humboldt State. It was FPU's first game under the new NCAA women's basketball rule changes, playing four quarters instead of two halves.

FPU got off to a strong start, leading 12-10 in the first quarter but the Viking closed out the first on an 11-0 run and continued the run into the second quarter, extending the run to 24-0 for a 34-12 WWU lead.

"It was nice to finally be able to play against another team," said head coach Lindsey Wilson. "We had a lot of first game jitters. We struggled to score late in the first half. I was proud of the way we stuck with it and competed down the stretch."

Taylor Caspers led the Sunbirds with 11 points. Alex Green had a strong Sunbird debut, scoring nine points. Riley Mew and Jasmine Shedrick added six points apiece. Hannah Ramirez pulled down a team-high five rebounds and Abrina Salas dished out five assists.

The Sunbirds continue the tournament tomorrow, taking on Seattle Pacific at 1 pm.