SAN FRANCISCO - Fresno Pacific fell 80-71 at defending conference champion Academy of Art in PacWest action Wednesday night. The Sunbirds (3-17, 3-12 PacWest) made runs at the end of the first half and the second half, but poor shooting from the field and from the line plagued FPU in the loss.

Keairra White scored a game-high 31 points for the Sunbirds and Jenay Herring added 17. Erisha Talley added seven points and eight rebounds. The Sunbirds shot 35.9% from the field and 67% from the line, missing 10 free-throws.

FPU went on a 15-3 run late in the first half to cut into a 14-point ARTU lead and went into the locker room trailing 36-32. The Urban Knights built the lead back up to 17 by the six-minute mark in the second half before a 12-0 Sunbird run made the score 67-62 with 2:54 to play. After two Academy of Art baskets, FPU would cut the deficit to seven multiple times in the final minutes but would be unable to pull any closer.

Sha'Nice Storey scored 23 points to lead the Urban Knights (14-9, 9-6 PacWest).

The Sunbirds are back in the Bay Area on Saturday to take on Notre Dame de Namur at 1 pm.