FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific women's basketball team returns to conference play this week, hosting three Hawai'i schools in five days at the Special Events Center. The first comes on Monday afternoon, when the Sunbirds hosts the Chaminade Silverswords at 12:30 p.m.
Schedule
Game 12
Monday, December 31
vs.
Chaminade • 12:30 p.m.
Fresno, Calif.
• Special Events Center
Live Stats • Video
Game 13
Wednesday, January 2
vs.
Hawai'i Hilo • 2:30 p.m.
Fresno, Calif.
• Special Events Center
Live Stats • Video
Game 14
Friday, January 4
vs.
Hawai'i Pacific • 2:30 p.m.
Fresno, Calif.
• Special Events Center
Live Stats • Video
About the Sunbirds (8-3, 4-1 PacWest)
FPU is coming off an exhibition loss to Fresno State on Saturday afternoon that saw 11 Sunbirds find the bottom of the net. Prior to the Christmas break, the 'Birds won three straight PacWest Conference games, keeping them fourth in the league standings. With
Cassie Pisik nearly averaging a double-double, the Blue and Orange rank second in the league in rebounding (43.8 RPG) and scoring (76.5 PPG).
Bree Alvarez leads the team in scoring so far, averaging 16.5 points per night to rank sixth individually on the league leaderboard.
Leaderboard
About the Silverswords (2-6, 1-3 PacWest)
Chaminade enters play this week having dropped their last three contests, but the 'Swords have yet to away from the islands this season. Destiny Castro's 17.4 points per game round out the top five on the PacWest leaderboard, while Diamond Carter and Hunter Liftee give Chaminade three of the league's top 13 scorers.
The wins in the series have come in bunches, with the Sunbirds winning the first three and the most recent three of the nine all-time meetings. Earlier this season in Honolulu, FPU picked up a 72-64 victory to begin league play, with Destiny Castro (Chaminade) and
Bree Alvarez combining for 38 points.
About the Vulcans (4-4, 1-3 PacWest)
In search of its' first road victory, Hawai'i Hilo will head to the Bay Area on Monday before coming to Fresno on Wednesday afternoon. Allie Navarette has been one of the most dynamic players in the conference to this point in the season, leading the league in rebounding (10.0 RPG) and ranking second in scoring (19.9 PPG). As a team, the Vulcans are third in defense among PacWest schools, limiting opponents to 63.9 points per night.
After winning each of the last three meetings, the Sunbirds enter with a 5-5 all-time record against the Vulcans. In Hawaii on Dec. 3, Alvarez and UHH' Allie Navarette each went for a team-high 27 points, while
Cassie Pisik's double-double helped the Blue and Orange to a 19-point win.
About the Sharks (6-4, 4-0 PacWest)
The defending league champs have picked up where they left off in conference play last season, posting a perfect 4-0 record against PacWest opponents so far. Samantha Lambrigsten claims the highest field goal percentage (.520) in the league, while Amy Baum sits atop the conference leaderboard in assist/turnover ratio (2.0). The Sharks have limited opponents to a league-best 60.8 PPG so far this season, but they have struggled to a 1-2 record away from home.
FPU won the first two meetings against the Sharks, but HPU has won eight straight since. The last time the two met in Fresno (2/10/18), a big third quarter helped the Sharks hold on for an eight-point victory.
Jessica Malazarte led the way with 19 points for the Sunbirds, while Samantha Lambrigsten led HPU with 13 off the bench.
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