COSTA MESA, Calif. - The Sunbird women's basketball team played another nationally ranked opponent Thursday evening, falling to #2 Vanguard University 68-53. The Lions had four players score in double figures which helped them to go on to defeat Fresno Pacific by 15. Vanguard was the third consecutive nationally ranked opponent the Sunbirds have faced in as many games.
FPU got off to a slow start, and were never able to fully recover against a team of Vanguard's caliber. The Sunbirds trailed the Lions at the half 23-37, but were able to put up more points in the second period to keep it respectable.
For the game, Fresno Pacific shot 17-38 (44.7%) from the field, 16-18 (88.9%) from the line, but couldn't seem to get it going from distance going 3-16 (18.8%) from three-point range. The Sunbirds also had difficulty keeping possession and had 24 turnovers in the contest.
Sophomore forward Jessica Torrecillas led the way for blue and orange scoring 18 points on the night. Torrecillas shot 7-8 from the field, 4-4 from the line, and was solid in the key collecting eight rebounds.
With the loss, the Sunbirds drop to 5-9 in the GSAC and are 9-12 overall. Next up, FPU will host Hope International University Saturday, February 14th in FPU's Special Event Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30PM.