SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific women's basketball team picked up a PacWest Conference victory on Saturday afternoon, defeating Dominican 80-68 on the road. With a Point Loma win, however, the Sunbirds narrowly miss the conference tournament despite posting the program's highest win total since the 2011-12 season.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Fresno Pacific 80, Dominican 68
Records: FPU (13-15, 11-9 PacWest), Dominican (17-11, 11-9 PacWest) 
Location: San Rafael, Calif. | The Conlan Center    
All-Time Series: FPU leads 15-5
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Sunbirds began the afternoon with a balanced attack, jumping out to a 21-10 lead at the first media timeout of the game after knocking down five of their first six three-pointers.  
• Dominican stormed back to take a lead in the second quarter, but Fresno Pacific responded with a 16-4 run to end the half with a 46-34 advantage.
• The Blue and Orange never took their foot off the gas after the intermission, going up by as many as 24 after a Jessica Malazarte three.
• The Penguins outscored their guests 19-11 in the final ten minutes, but FPU was able to hang on for their second win in three days.
 
STATS OF THE GAME:
• Megan Lee racked up a season-high 25 points in her final career game, connecting on seven of her nine threes to set a new career-best.
• Malazarte and Ashley Cross each put up 18 points, while the latter hauled in a team-high 10 rebounds to round out her first career double-double.
• Bree Alvarez finished as the fourth Sunbird in double figures, recording 12 points while adding a pair of assists and two steals.
• For Dominican, Natalie Diaz led the way with 23 points despite an 8-for-24 shooting effort. She added ten rebounds to help the Penguins outrebound the Sunbirds 55-46.
• The Sunbirds once again won the turnover battle by a margin of 19-16, and the Blue and Orange blocked ten shots for the third time this season.
 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• Dominican defeated Fresno Pacific by 20 points in Fresno earlier this year.
• The Sunbirds forced more turnovers than they committed in 17 of their 20 league games this season.
• The only four-year player on the team, Lee finishes her career with 159 three-pointers, good enough for second on the program's all-time list in that category.
• FPU improved by eight wins this season, marking one of the largest turnarounds in program history.