SAN FRANCISCO – The Fresno Pacific University women's basketball team went back and forth with Academy of Art on Wednesday night but ultimately fell 74-72 in the game's final minute.
 
"This was a really great effort for us tonight. We were locked in from the beginning and maintained a level of energy throughout the game," head coach Tim Beauregard. "A couple tough possessions and turnovers at costly times proved to be the determining factor. It takes a complete game to knock off a team like this, and we came up a bit short in the end."
 
The Urban Knights controlled the opening tip, and Alana Simon connected on a mid-range jumper to start the scoring. The two teams exchanged buckets for most of the first quarter before the Sunbirds claimed a six-point lead heading into the intermission.
 
ARTU tallied the first five points of the second half before the Sunbirds answered with an 8-2 run of their own. Bree Alvarez maintained a hot hand late into the night, scoring the final six points of the game to finish with a career-high 29.
 
With the game tied at 72 and under a minute to play, both teams missed an offensive opportunity at their end of the floor. Urban Knight guard Rodericka Ware drew contact with four seconds remaining and connected on the front end of her trip to the line.
 
The second free throw resulted in the ball bouncing out of bounds, and the Sunbirds were awarded possession. A turnover at the other end forced the Blue and Orange to foul, however, and Academy of Art was able to escape their own gym with a 74-72 victory intact.
 
Alvarez' 29 points was good enough for a team-high, while Megan Lee and Cassie Pisik followed with 11 and 10 respectively. ARTU's Helena Arts connected on 12-of-16 from the floor to record 32 points, while Ware ended her night with 17.
 
Wednesday night featured eight ties and eight lead changes, the most in either category of any Sunbird game this season. FPU won the turnover battle for the fifth time in as many games, forcing their opponents to commit 22.  
 
"If we take even a small step backwards, we will have a rough final stretch of our season," Beauregard said. "On the contrary, though, even a fraction of a step forward from tonight's performance will be rewarded with positive outcomes."