FRESNO, Calif. - After a long time on the road, the Fresno Pacific women's basketball returned to the Special Events Center for the conference matchup Dominican Penguins on Saturday afternoon. Despite having a 9-for-23 performance from beyond the arc, the Sunbirds struggled to bridge the gap between the Penguins, ending the match 61-71.

"We felt really good coming into today's game, but a few unfortunate injuries and sicknesses kept us a little bit shorthanded," mentioned head coach Tim Beauregard. "We definitely felt that as the game progressed."

The game began with the Sunbirds battling to keep pace with Dominican in the first quarter. Kira Wilmurt got things started with the three-point play, making a driving layup and making her free throw to bring it 3-4. Mason Long's 3-pointer at 7:26 further closed the gap, making it 8-6. Despite strong defensive rebounds and a three-pointer from Angela Whitfield at 4:56, the Sunbirds trailed 19-14 by the end of the quarter.

Fresno Pacific initiated the second quarter with a key sequence from Nina Wisniewski, who converted a free throw and followed up with a 3-pointer, narrowing Dominican's lead to one point at 9:29. Despite the Sunbirds' efforts, the Penguins responded quickly and maintained pressure, creating a gap as the quarter progressed. Jordyn Ybarra added to the Sunbirds' tally with consecutive free throws at 7:12, but Dominican extended their advantage through effective scoring in the paint. The quarter ended with Dominican leading the Sunbirds, 29–39.

"After a pretty competitive stretch in the first half, we just made too many compounded mistakes which allowed Dominican to not only find a rhythm, but stretched their lead a bit going into halftime."

In the third quarter, the Sunbirds were trailing until senior Whitfield hit back-to-back three pointers to bring the score to 39-54. The energy change was palpable in the Special Events Center! The senior from Fresno gained the next five points for the 'Birds, sinking both free throws and netting another shot from downtown to make it a 14-point deficit. However, Dominican didn't let the Sunbirds' drive last long, rebuilding their lead to 46-65.

The fourth quarter saw Fresno Pacific's Aaliyah Seuell fight for an offensive rebound and earned a free throw opportunity, bringing the score to 49-67. Although the Penguins were ahead by 20 points, Wisniewski and Whitfield scored two more layups for the 'Birds. With two minutes remaining, Long sank the shot from downtown, which Seuell followed with an impressive mid-court steal and fastbreak layup to make it 58-71. At the 23 second mark, Seuell scored the last big point of the game, sinking a three-pointer from the far corner to end the game 61-71.

"In the second half, you could definitely see the rest that Dominican had coming into our game as they proved to have more in the gas tank than us. We will continue to grow through what we go through and stay unflinching in our desire to chase the best version of our team this next stretch. We are looking forward to a good run of games as we close out this season."

Whitfield offensively led the team with 17 points, converting five field goals, including four from beyond the arc. Long contributed with 10 points, hitting four of eight shots and adding two 3-pointers. Alexa Perryman was active on defense, recording two steals and adding three points. Trinity Tolbert added six points, converting four free throws and securing four rebounds.

The Sunbirds have a record of 7-14 overall and 4-12 in PacWest play.

NEXT UP: The 'Birds fly over to Hawaii for the conference matchups against Chaminade, Hawaii Pacific, and Hawaii Hilo between February 12 -17. 

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