LA JOLLA, Calif. – When Marina Valles let her 3-pointer go with 2 seconds left, she thought it was going in Saturday.

Instead it just rimmed out, the rebound bounced off a wild scrum under the hoop and the ball rolled away as the final buzzer sounded.

It was that kind of night for the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team, who lost 69-67 to Alaska Anchorage in the NCAA Division II National Tournament second round at UC San Diego.

"For a second, I did think it was," Valles said. "We knew it was really hard to win for a third time against them and we knew it was going to be a tough game. Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in."

The Nighthawks' bid to become the first team in school history to advance past the second round of an NCAA tournament was inches away from happening. Instead, it's a second consecutive year of losing to conference-rival Anchorage in the national tournament.

"It's funny because I feel like we could have played a lot better, but when I look at the stats we out-statted them in every category except 3s," NNU coach Steve Steele said. "If that shot goes in for Marina they are crying and we are celebrating. If just one call goes different or one thing happens different then we are playing Monday."

Alaska Anchorage (30-2) will play Azusa Pacificon Monday in the Sweet Sixteen. NNU ends its season 29-3.

On Saturday, the Nighthawks trailed 62-49 with 8 minutes left in their season, but just like they had all year, they rallied.

A 14-2 run pulled the Nighthawks to within 64-63 with 2:01 left in the game.

McKenna Walker started it with a jumper, Danielle Jardine then made two buckets in the lane and made three free throws, sister Raquel Jardine added two free throws and Avery Albrecht drilled a 3-pointer.

Suddenly, there was a chance.

"I think the rally was caused by a new sense of urgency," Albrecht said. "We knew we had to get a quick spark, force a turnover, get a good bucket and get excited about those little wins."

Anchorage responded with a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, but Marina Valles made four free throws to pull NNU within 68-67. Forced to foul, Anchorage's best shooter Tara Thompson split two free throws setting up Valles shot.

"I think we are really tough," Valles said. "Even with six minutes left we were down 12 and we knew we could come back and none of us panicked."

The Nighthawks struggled shooting the ball all night, finishing at 34.6 percent from the field and just 16.7 percent (2-of-12) from beyond the arc. They also uncharacteristically missed eight free throws.

On the other side of the court, Anchorage made 11 of its first 15 attempts from beyond the arc. Easily their best shooting from distance on the season.

"It's a little bit of a surprise, but it seems that's the way the games have gone between us," Steele said. "The two wins we had, we shot the ball really, really well. Compared to their season statistics it is obviously an anomaly, but they have the ability to do that. There is a reason they are ranked so high."

Albrecht's 14 points led the Nighthawks, while Danielle Jardine added 12. Valles added 13 points, five rebounds and four steals and Ellie Logan had 10 points.

Tara Thompson's 19 points, including 6-of-8 shooting from the 3-point line, led the Seawolves.

"I think in the moment it stings more that it was that close because you know one basket, one stop away," Albrecht said. "In the long run, though, I think I can look back on this and see how hard we played to keep it that close and give us a shot at winning the game."

The game was the last for five seniors – Danielle and Raquel Jardine, Logan, Carly Parker and McKenna Walker. The group won just four games as freshmen, but went on to go 51-8 their final two seasons.

"I didn't even know that stat," Logan said. "It's a legacy, but more a legacy of loving each other and doing the little things that lead to winning. If you do all the building blocks right, you end up with seasons like this one and last season.

"I'm sure they will continue that next year. They have a great group coming in and the juniors will be great leaders. I'm excited to see where they go from here."