HONOLULU, Hawaii – Marina Valles wept. Zoe Wessels and Avery Albrecht looked stunned.

All three Northwest Nazarene seniors were at a loss for words after head coach Steve Steele informed them and the rest of the Nighthawks that the NCAA Division II National Tournament had been canceled and that their careers were over.

"I knew basketball was going to end at some point in the next few weeks, but I was more sad about the people and all my best friends I don't get to play with anymore," Wessels said. "I'm still in shock. It's like grieving."

The Nighthawks were scheduled to play UC San Diego on Friday afternoon at Hawaii Pacific in the first round of the tournament.

They were at practice Thursday morning when they found out the news.

"It's hard to swallow the fact that it just ended and in some gym that we didn't even get to play in," Albrecht said. "I was in complete shock and I still am. It's hard for it to completely sink in when you are still in Hawaii with all your best friends.

"The more time passes since he told us it just makes me sad that I have to leave this team and these players that have become my best friends."

While all three knew that it was a possibility, especially with all of the cancelations in professional sports and other college leagues around the country, they still held out hope that they would somehow be spared.

"I'm mostly upset because I felt like the last game we played at the GNAC tournament wasn't our best," Valles said. "We were hoping for some redemption to prove to ourselves that we are way better than we showed last week."

The Nighthawks wrap up their season with a 22-7 season and a loss to Western Washington the GNAC tournament semifinals.

The three seniors are the only players in program history to advance to three consecutive NCAA tournaments and win at least 21 games each season. Albrecht and Valles became the 27th and 28th players in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau this year.

And yet, it was still a brutal way for their careers to end.

"I think it's worse to not get to play," Albrecht said about her season ending like this rather than with a loss. "First of all, you never get a chance to do something great and it's worse not knowing that (the Western game) was our last game."

The cancelation robbed the players of a final game together and one with the rest of the team.

"I don't know if I want to see a team without Zoe yelling and whipping towels, or Marina breaking ankles or Avery just doing Avery stuff," NNU freshman Nicole Gall said. "I'm excited for the rest of the team for next year for sure, but I just love watching (the seniors) play."

The three players entered NNU together, joining a program in turmoil. They leave it with the Nighthawks the best they've been since the NAIA years.

"My heart hurts for the seniors because they played their last game without knowing it," NNU sophomore Erin Jenkins said.

Whether they wanted it or not, though, the group will always be remembered as the team that had their tournament dreams interrupted by a worldwide pandemic.

"I just keep thinking that someday I'm going to tell my kids that my season ended because of the coronavirus," Albrecht said. "It will always have an effect on me. Even 20 years from now."