AZUSA, Calif. – One bounce, one rebound, one basket away.

The Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team fought tooth and nail with Alaska Anchorage on Friday, but in the end came up just short.

The Seawolves grabbed an offensive rebound with 10 seconds left and Yazmeen Goo made an off-balance scoop layup to end the Nighthawks' dream season in the first round of the NCAA Division II National Tournament at Azusa Pacific.

"The girl hit a really tough shot with a hand in her face," sophomore Avery Albrecht said. "Sometimes stuff like that happens and there is not much you can do about it."

Goo had missed two free throws before Sala Langi grabbed the offensive rebound – one of 16 on the night for Anchorage. Goo got the ball near the 3-point line dribbled across the lane and took a wild shot while falling down, banking it in high off the glass.

Albrecht had a desperation heave from midcourt hit the backboard and a record-setting season for the Nighthawks came to an end.

"I don't want to define our season by our final play," senior Coco Gall said. "We had such great chemistry together all year and we made NNU history. It was a hard play to go out on, but we can still look back on this season and see all the success we had. All the love we had."

The Nighthawks (22-5) finish with the most wins in a season since the school moved up to Division II in 2001, they had the longest winning streak in that time (13 games), won their first regular-season conference title since 2000, made just the 13th trip to a national tournament since the program began in 1974 and the first since 2013.

"I'm really proud of how this team changed the culture in the locker room and the community," NNU head coach Steve Steele said. "I think people look at our program differently than they did the year before, not only because of how they played but also how they handled themselves off the court. I think I'm more proud of those things than even the record this year."

There was a lot to be proud of even on a night when the Nighthawks struggled to shoot the ball. They made just 18-of-60 shots from the field, including 4-of-20 from behind the line.

Despite trailing by 10 points in a miserable third quarter, the Nighthawks never panicked and never gave up.

Albrecht hit a 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining in the period – the lone field goal for NNU in the quarter – as they were outscored 13-4 in the third.

"All season we had this attitude that no matter what was happening we all stayed calm," Gall said. "Just because our shot wasn't falling, our defense was fantastic and that is what kept us in the game."

The Nighthawks went on a 9-0 run to nearly erase a 10-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter.

Danielle Jardine made a layup, Albrecht hit a 3-pointer, had a steal and a layup, another steal and then Lexi Tubbs made two free throws. Just like that it was 57-56 with 4:06 remaining.

Tubbs tied the game back up with a layup to make it 59-59 and then Danielle Jardine split a pair of free throws to make it 61-60.

After Hannah Wandersee made two free throws for a 63-60 lead with 31 seconds left, Albrecht again made a huge play.

McKenna Walker missed a contested 3-pointer and the 5-foot-9 Albrecht went up amongst the trees, grabbed the rebound, put in and was fouled. She calmly sank the free throw to tie the game and set up the wild finish.

"I just knew that it was a do or die moment," she said. "If we didn't get a bucket right there we probably weren't going to win the game. We crashed the boards like we were on fire."
The play was even bigger because it fouled out Anchorage star Wandersee, who had a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds.

At the other end, Goo drove hard to the basket drawing a foul on Lexi Tubbs that could've gone either way. Goo then missed both free throws before the fateful offensive rebound was grabbed by Langi.

"The difference came down to rebounding," Steele said. "They ran down a couple more loose balls."

Albrecht finished with a team-high 18 points while Gall had 10. Tubbs finished with eight points and four rebounds, Danielle Jardine had eight points and eight rebounds, Raquel Jardine had five points and five rebounds and Valles finished with six points.

Anchorage had plenty of chances to blow the game open, but the Nighthawks defense kept them in it throughout.

Anchorage shot just 2-of-26 from beyond the arc and 37.9 percent from the field, as well as missing 11 free throws.

The Seawolves led 18-7 early, but NNU closed the first quarter on a 15-5 run to pull within one. NNU took its first lead of the game on two free throws by Marina Valles in the final seconds of the first half, leading 41-39 at the break.

"I think it comes down to leadership," Steele said of fighting through the tough offensive night. "Our seniors always believe we can come back and win and that filters down to everyone else. No one panics.

"They believe that eventually shots will go down or we'll get a steal and a breakaway or get to the line. We will find ways to score, we just have to keep defending."

The Nighthawks did that Friday, but one lousy bounce on a rebound and an incredible shot from a star player on the other team meant there will be no more games for this team.

"It's definitely a tough moment," Albrecht said. "I've never loved a team like the one this year. It is hard to see the season end this soon."