AZUSA, Calif. - The Concordia University Irvine women's basketball season came to a close Thursday afternoon at the hands of Fresno Pacific University in the first round of the PacWest Conference Tournament.  It was a back-and-forth game until the Sunbirds were able to capture the lead late in the fourth quarter en route to a 64-60 victory. 
 
In a game that saw seven ties and seven lead changes, the Eagles tried to ride their starters to the finish and the game was hanging in the balance in the final two minutes.  The Sunbirds used a 7-0 run during that span to ultimately put away the Eagles.
 
The Eagles were led by guard Jasmine Rachal who finished the game with a team-high 19 points. The sophomore also dished out four assists.  She helped carry the Eagles in the first half by scoring 13 points in the first twenty minutes. 

VIDEO: Click Here for postgame interviews with CUI's VanderKlugt, Rachal and Coach Collins-Kiernan

Two other Eagles joined Rachal in double figures.  Junior forwards Kennedy Fulcher and Michaela VanderKlugt finished with 16 and 15 points respectively.  VanderKlugt recorded her 11th double-double on the year as she also pulled down 11 rebounds, with six of them coming on the offensive end.  
 
Fulcher had a strong second half that kept the Eagles in the game when it seemed like a lid was covering their basket.  She finished one rebound shy of joining VanderKlugt with a double-double.  

FPU's Jessica Malazarte exploded for 31 points to lead the Sunbirds and made five three-pointers in addition to going 8-for-10 from the free throw line to help pull off the upset.

"It's tough to beat a team three times," admitted CUI head coach Christine Collins Kiernan. "We've done a really good job this season typically controlling the opponent's best player and this was the first time we didn't with Jessica (Malazarte). Jessica had a phenomenal game and willed them to win that game and we didn't respond in that respect. We also had a hard time finding the top off the rim you could say. We didn't shoot free throws really well and we were cold from the three-point line. I don't think that's normally typical of us and we just couldn't find our rhythm."

While this is not the storybook ending that the Eagles had hoped for when they stepped out on the court, there was a lot to be proud of.  The Eagles were picked to finish seventh in the conference in the Preseason Coaches Poll and by far exceeded those expectations. CUI claimed third place which was the highest the women's basketball team has finished since moving up from NAIA to NCAA DII as a member of the PacWest Conference.

CUI also returns its entire team since their are no seniors on this year's squad.

"I think this year has taught everybody that you don't need to be a senior to be a leader," said VanderKlugt. "Everyone has a say in what they do and a freshman's voice is just as important as a senior's voice and that's the culture that we have here."

"We didn't take anything lightly and we had tremendous growth this season," said Rachal. "Every single girl on the team contributed and our bench was amazing this entire year and their energy carried us."

Concordia won 15 conference games this season which is the most in program history since joining the PacWest. VanderKlugt also became the first CUI women's basketball player to score 1,000 career points since the school moved up to NCAA DII.