OAKLAND, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific women's basketball team traveled to Oakland on Sunday for a makeup game against Holy Names, and they were able to knock off the Hawks 79-56 in a must-win game to qualify for this week's PacWest Conference Tournament.
 
QUOTABLE
 
"We were grateful to get the opportunity to play one last regular season game in what we knew would be a win or go home. I was proud of our team for their willingness to sacrifice whatever they needed in order to make the playoffs. These last few weeks has been the most rigorous stretch of college basketball I've ever been a part of. In the end, one of our yearly goals is to make the playoffs and tonight we were able to do that once again. I'm excited for our team to play in March. We'll be ready and enthusiastic for the opportunity to play in front of our hometown crowd on Thursday." – head coach Tim Beauregard
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Sunbirds jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to a layup from Maesyn Rix that was assisted by Anisa Rillo.
• HNU scored the next four points to take their only lead of the game, but it was quickly erased after a Rix jumper and a 3-pointer from Sara Lundqvist.
• Lundqvist hit another shot from deep to extend the Sunbird lead to six, but a 5-0 run from the Hawks cut that lead to just one with 5:12 left in the quarter.
• Lundqvist was able to put in a layup for her eighth point of the quarter to extend the lead back the three, and that sparked a 10-5 run for the Sunbirds that gave them a 20-14 lead with just under two to play in the opening quarter.
• The Hawks were able to get within four with just 1:29 to go, but three free throws from Rillo gave the Sunbirds a seven-point lead heading into the second quarter.
• Two free throws from HNU got them within five to start the second quarter, but Rillo got those points back quickly with a jumper to make it 25-18.
• In a slower second quarter, the Sunbirds were able to close out the half on an 8-2 run, capped off by a buzzer-beating layup from Felicia Dourva, to put FPU up 33-22 going into the break.
• The Sunbirds hovered around a 12-13-point lead to start the second half, but a Rillo 3-pointer gave FPU its largest lead of the game at that point, leading 44-26 with 6:01 left in the period.
• FPU kept pouring it on from there, leading by as many as 24 with 47 seconds left, but a jumper from HNU cut that lead to 22 heading into the final 10 minutes.
• The Sunbirds put things on cruise control in the final period, going up by 26 with 6:50 left after a Rillo 3-pointer.
• FPU reached its largest lead of the game at 29 points when Olivia Garcia was able to knock one down from behind the arc with 5:40 to go in the contest.
• The Hawks were able to cut the lead to 20 points with just over a minute to go, but a 3-pointer from Vanessa Cochrane brought it back to 23 points with 50 seconds to go, and they held that lead until the final buzzer.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME

• Rillo led all scorers with 25 points 8-of-16 shooting and 4-of-9 from deep. She added 10 rebounds for the double-double and also dished out four assists.
• Rix also finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting with 10 rebounds.
• Lundqvist added a third double-double for the Sunbirds, scoring 10 points and adding 10 rebounds.
• Lydia Manu filled the stat sheet with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists.

 
UP NEXT
 
With the win, the Blue and Orange have punched their ticket to the PacWest Conference Tournament, which they will host, starting on Wednesday. They will take on top-seeded Azusa Pacific on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.
 
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