FRESNO, Calif.-Felicia Dourva delivered the dagger in the final minute, Maesyn Rix posted her 7^th double-double of the season and the defense applied the clamps in the second half as the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (11-3 overall, 5-1 PacWest) claimed a 65-53 win over the Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles (6-8 overall, 4-4 PacWest) Wednesday night in the Special Events Center.

Dourva's step back in the lane finally allowed FPU to exhale after another gritty ballgame that saw momentum shift dramatically a number of times.

The Sunbirds held the early lead but CUI's 6-0 run flipped the script in the last couple minutes of the first quarter.

Fresno Pacific trailed by as much as six before pulling within four at 19-15 to conclude the first quarter.

Joleen Corona drilled a three that would get FPU within one before a scoring drought was broken with baskets by Bre Hurt and Jayla Green and free-throws by Dourva that tied the game at 27 by halftime.

The Sunbirds fell behind by six again in the third quarter before consecutive buckets from Hurt, Julie Ramirez, and Lydia Manu tied the game at 39.

Hurt and Ramirez scored back to back baskets in the final minute of the third to give FPU a 43-40 lead before the final period.

Hurt, Green and Manu helped FPU out to its biggest lead of the game at 7 points to start the fourth before some back and forth set up Jasmine Heu's three that stretched the difference to 9 with just under six minutes remaining.

CUI had a chance to make it a two possession game before the final minute but missed right before Dourva came down and hit a pretty step back jumper that forced CUI to foul the rest of the way.

Dourva went 4-4 at the free-throw line to further seal the game and secure the win.

Thanks to the six points in the final minute, Dourva finished with a game-high 16 points.

Hurt was next on the scoring list for FPU with 12 points.

Maesyn Rix completed her 7^th double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Both Dourva and Rix finished with 5 assists and the Sunbirds assisted on 16 of their 26 field goals.

Once again, FPU was dominant on the glass behind Rix winning the rebounding category 41-19 and securing 7 of their 11 offensive rebounds in the second half.

The Sunbirds buckled down defensively in the second half, holding CUI to just eight total field goals in the final twenty minutes and 24% shooting for the half.

Meanwhile, FPU was over 50% in the second half shooting 16 of 29 to close out the win.

Next up for Fresno Pacific is a rematch against Point Loma on Saturday, ten days after the Sunbirds narrow loss in San Diego.

The Sunbirds tip at 2:00 pm against the Sea Lions inside the Special Events Center.

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