SAN RAFAEL, Calif.-A slow shooting night bogged down the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (4-5 overall, 0-3 PacWest) in a 66-56 loss to the Dominican Penguins (3-6 overall, 1-2 PacWest) Saturday afternoon at the Conlan Center.

Fresno Pacific struggled to sustain offense in a game that had 43 total turnovers and one in which FPU shot just 33.8% from the field.

"We struggled, once again, to make enough easy shots to remain in striking distance," Fresno Pacific head coach Tim Beauregard said. "We weren't able to capitalize enough after breaking their press to take control."

Sara Lundqvist hit the game's first bucket from the elbow and Anisa Rillo knocked down an early three, but six turnovers and trio of fouls helped the Penguins inched in front at the free-throw line during the early going to take a 10-5 lead.

FPU pulled closer behind a pair of buckets from Bre Hurt as the Sunbirds shaved a point off the Dominican lead but finished the quarter trailing 18-14.

Dominican continued its strong shooting in the second quarter, shooting over 50% from the field to power a 13-6 run to start the period.

Turnovers were a problem for both teams in the first half with a number of travels and double-dribbles called throughout the first quarter.

FPU cut the turnovers in half and shot 47% from the field in the 2^nd quarter, but Dominican still extended its lead to 40-33 at halftime.

Fresno Pacific was just 4-14 from the field in the third, but closed the gap a bit after Dominican had pushed the lead to 17, trailing 56-43 heading into the fourth quarter.

The 'Birds outscored the Penguins 13-10 in the fourth but couldn't pull closer than 8 points.

"I thought we had a great week of practice," Beauregard reflected. "Ultimately, after performance like today, we have to figure out a way to be better prepared to play."

Hurt came off the bench to finish with a double-double, matching her career-high with 17 points.

The Sunbirds will be back in action on Saturday, December 17^th when they travel to Irvine to take on the Golden Eagles.