FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (4-1 overall) earned a big home win on Saturday, knocking off the San Francisco State Gators (2-2 overall) 63-57 to close out the Crossover Classic.

"It's really nice to have a core like we have that can be coaches on the floor," Fresno Pacific assistant coach Santino Reynolds said. "People stepped up when needed. We're deep, we can play a lot of players, and they stepped up tonight."

Felicia Dourva was big for the Sunbirds all night, and it started with the first bucket of the game to give FPU the early lead.

After a nearly four-minute scoring drought with the Sunbirds down 3-2, they regained the lead after a pair of free throws from Jenna Kurz, but the Gators were able to get it going down the stretch and end up taking a 15-12 lead into the second quarter.

SF State led by four early in the second quarter, but a layup from Kurz to make it 19-17 with 7:40 left in the half sparked an 11-0 FPU run the gave the Sunbirds a 26-19 lead with 2:40 left in the half.

After a bucket from the Gators stalled the run for a moment, a layup fro Dourva extended the lead back to seven with 1:04 left. SF State went 1-of-2 from the line with five seconds left, and the Sunbirds took a 28-22 lead into the break.

An opening layup from Maesyn Rix pushed the lead to eight to open the second quarter, but SF State wouldn't go away quietly, cutting the deficit to just one with 7:16 left in the quarter. A big 3-pointer from Dourva pushed it back to a four-point Sunbird lead, and they led by as many as seven in the quarter down the stretch. But the Gators kept coming back, making it a one-point game with just over a minute left in the quarter. A layup from Rachel Berry made ti 44-41 with 40 seconds left, but the Gators answered with a pair of free throws before a buzzer-beating jumper from Berry took the Sunbirds into the final quarter leading 46-43.

The fourth quarter was a battle form start to finish, starting with a jumper from Kurz that extended FPU's lead to five early in the quarter.

Five quick points from the Gators tied things up at 48 with 7:29 to go in the game. A clutch jumper from Bre Hurt gave the lead right back to FPU, and a free throw from Lydia Manu with 4:57 left extended the lead to three points.

The Gators had multiple chances to tie to take the lead, keeping the deficit to 2-3 points for the majority of the final few minutes, but patient play from the Sunbirds, including a few made free throws, allowed FPU to hold on for the win.

Dourva scored a team-high 16 points in the win with a pair of made 3-pointers. Berry filled the stat sheet once again with 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a steal. The two senior guards didn't record a single turnover in the win.

Kurz added eight points and four rebounds, and Julie Ramirez matched with eight points of her own. Rix continued to battle on the boards, pulling down 10 rebounds.

The Sunbirds will be back in action on Wednesday when they hit the road to take on Stanislaus State. Tip-off is scheudled for 5 p.m.

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