FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (4-3 overall, 0-1 PacWest) opened conference play on Thursday evening when they hosted Biola (1-6 overall, 1-0 PacWest), falling 61-54 in a contest that was close from the tip until the final buzzer.
 
"Any given night, anybody can come in and make some positive plays for us," head coach Tim Beauregard said. "The one thing that is evident every single night is our team plays hard. I think at our level and in our conference, as long as we respect that opportunity that every time we get to take a step on the court to play, that we're going to play really hard."
 
After Maesyn Rix knocked down a free throw to start things off, the Eagles went on a quick 6-2 lead to go up 6-3 early in the first period.
 
The 'Birds battled back after a free throw from Jenna Kurz and a fastbreak layup from Lydia Manu tied things 6-6 with 5:08 left in the opening period. Biola took the lead following the media timeout, but a jumper followed by a 3-pointer from Sara Lundqvist gave FPU an 11-8 lead before taking a timeout with 2:37 to go.
 
The two teams traded buckets and were tied 13-13, but a layup from the Eagles as time expired gave them a 15-13 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
The Sunbirds struck first to begin the second quarter thanks to an Olivia Garcia jumper that tied the game 15-15, but a 4-0 run by the Eagles stretched their lead to four points early on before another 3-pointer from Lundqvist made it 19-18 with 6:31 left in the half.
 
The Eagles came out of the timeout to go on a 7-0 run and stretch their lead to 26-18 with 2:55 to go before the half, but Manu was able to knock one down from deep to halt the run and cut the deficit to five points.
 
Biola quickly got their lead back to nine points with 51 seconds to go in the half, but a couple free throws from Bre Hurt and one more from Ludqvist with five seconds to go meant the Eagles led 30-24 at the break.
 
As they did in the first two quarter, it was the Sunbirds who got things started in the third period thanks to a layup from Rix, and a jumper from Lundqvist with 7:41 to go cut the Biola lead down to two points.
 
After a layup from the Eagles got the lead back to four, the two teams traded a pair of free throws just before a Felicia Dourva 3-pointer got the Sunbirds within one point with 6:01 to go.
 
After a scoreless drought of over a minute by both teams, the Sunbirds were able to tie things up 34-34 after Julie Ramirez went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe, but the tie was short lived thanks to two free throws from the Eagles, followed by a made jumper that made it 38-34 with 3:44 to go in the period.
 
The Eagles were able to hold FPU off for the remainder of the quarter and take a 45-38 lead into the final 10 minutes.
 
In the fourth quarter, it was the Eagles who finally struck first to take a double-digit lead before a 3-pointer from Rillo made it 48-41 after two minutes into the final quarter.
 
The two teams traded bucket to keep the seven-point separation, but a layup from Dourva put the Sunbirds within five with 6:36 to go. That was followed up by a Lundqvist 3-pointer, her third of the game to make it a two-point game. After over a minute of scoreless action, Lundqvist knocked down two free throws to tie the game at 50 with 4:12 to go in the contest.
 
The run came to a halt when the Eagles knocked one down from behind the arc, and after Rix made a layup to get within one, Biola answered with another 3-pointer to go up 56-52 with 2:44 to go.
 
A layup from Manu made it 56-54, but a third-straight 3-pointer from the Eagles extended their lead to five with 2:04 remaining.
 
Neither team was able to find a bucket for nearly two minutes before two made free throws from Biola extended their lead to 61-54 with six seconds to go, and they would hold that lead and get their first win of the season.
 
Despite the loss, the Sunbirds were strong defensively, forcing the Eagles to turn the ball over 19 times.
 
Lundqvist scored a team-high 16 points along with three rebounds. She was followed by Rillo who finished with nine points. Dourva had eight points in the contest.
 
The Sunbirds will be back in action on Saturday when they host the defending PacWest Champions Azusa Pacific. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Special Events Center.
 
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