HILO, Hawai'i-Closing strong is become a calling card for the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (7-2 overall, 3-0 PacWest) as they held the Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans quiet in the fourth in route to a 70-58 win and a perfect Hawai'i road trip Wednesday night in the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

While the Sunbirds held a slight edge most of the night, they pulled away in the fourth, holding their hosts to just 3-12 shooting while pouring in 19 points on 60% from the field.

Felicia Dourva started strong with a pair of buckets in the opening two minutes, getting the rack for a layup and an elbow jumper before Julie Ramirez backed it up with a layup and a left wing three.

Hilo kept pace with the Sunbirds lead never swelling to more than five points in the first five minutes with Lydia Manu's offensive rebound and putback giving FPU an 11-9 at the first media timeout.

The Vulcans split a pair of free-throws before Joleen Corona knocked down a right wing three to lengthen the lead.

Hilo was able to tie the game at 14 after another split at the free-throw line and then found a layup.

Dourva knocked down a free-throw and another three and FPU held an 18-16 lead at the half.

The Sunbirds wiggled out to a 20-16 lead before Hilo hit its second three of the game and then hit a turn around to take a 21-20 lead over FPU.

Jasmine Heu answered just one possession later with another FPU three-pointer to regain the lead.

The teams would trade baskets over the next few minutes with Heu drilling another three for FPU to hold a 28-27 edge with 3:17 remaining in the first half.

Manu added another putback and Dourva hit two free throws to hold a 32-29 lead at the break.

Hilo took the lead at the start of the half with a 6-2 run before Julie Ramirez buried a three-pointer to regain the lead.

The lead switched hands over the next three minutes with matching stops and buckets and FPU holding a 44-43 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Sunbirds stretched the lead to as much as eight a few minutes into the fourth quarter.

Maesyn Rix scored a bulk of her 11 points in the fourth as added some points on the interior as the Sunbirds wore down Hilo.

Rix also snagged 10 rebounds to complete her fourth double-double of the season.

FPU closed out the game by grabbing its largest lead with just 36 seconds remaining in the game, growing the advantage to 14 points.

Dourva led the scoring for FPU with 13 points and Rix was the only other Sunbird with double-figures.

Four different 'Birds hit multiple threes as FPU combined for 10 total on 41% shooting, their second best marks of the season in both categories.

Heu finished with 9 points on 3 of 5 from deep while Corona had 8 points thanks to a pair of threes.

But the defense helped close out the Vulcans, much like it has done throughout the trip to Hawai'i.

Hawai'i Hilo was just 4-12 in the final quarter and scored just 8 points in the final frame.

The win gives FPU its first 3-0 trip through the Hawaiian Islands and the first 3-0 start in conference play since the 2020 COVID season.

The 'Birds also started 3-0 in PacWest play in 2019, utilizing two home games that season.

Fresno Pacific will head back to the mainland and get a reprieve from conference action, and games in general, until Seattle Pacific visits the Special Events Center at 2 p.m. on December 16^th.

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