IRVINE, Calif. - The Concordia University Irvine women's basketball team defeated Fresno Pacific Saturday night in a scrappy game that came down to the last minute. The victory gives the Golden Eagles a conference record of 4-1 and improves their overall record to 7-4.

Graduate student Jasmine Rachal led the Green and Gold in scoring by putting up 13 points. Junior Savannah Felix-Amoroso had a strong outing as she collected eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.

The Golden Eagles came out the gates fast as they shot 50 percent from the field in the first period. Junior Sierra Clark sank a deep three-pointer when time was running down on the shot clock to open the three-point scoring for CUI.

Fresno Pacific would bounce back in the second period and going into halftime it was a four-point lead for CUI. Coming out of the locker room for the second half, there were two things that made a difference for the Golden Eagles, bench scoring and defense.

The bench for the Green and Gold finished the night with 20 points. Felix-Amoroso led the second unit while sophomore Camryn Kiernan and junior Sierra Clark made an impact with timely shots down the line.

There was no bigger shot in the game then when Kiernan received the ball in the corner up by 1 with 40 seconds left in the game. With ice in her veins, Kiernan knocked down the trey which gave the Golden Eagles a four-point lead.

"We wanted the ball in Katie's hands and she was gonna come off the (inbound) pass and attack or shoot, but she found me with a good pass in the corner," said Kiernan. "I could feel the bench going crazy behind me and it was such a relief to make that shot to help the team."

Graduate student Katie Timmerman secured the victory for CUI when she stepped to the free throw line and went a perfect 4-for-4.

"I thought our team defensive execution was on point," said CUI head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan. "In a game where we struggled to be consistent around the basket and hit our shots, our team defense is what really brought us through that. I feel like everybody that touched the floor did a good job of doing the things we needed to do to win and their energy from the bench and the floor is completely locked in with each other."

CUI has now won five of its last six contests and the only loss during that stretch came against nationally-ranked Azusa Pacific on the road.

The Golden Eagles look to remain hot when they host Holy Names Monday, Dec. 19 at 1 p.m. Click HERE for a look at the rest of the schedule