EUGENE, Ore. – The greatest season in school history came to an abrupt end on Wednesday afternoon as the Northwest Christian University women's basketball team fell to Indiana's Taylor University, 61-54 in the opening round of the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Tournament.
 
Head Coach Heath Alexander said, "This was a great experience for our team. To see where we are now from where we were when took over four years ago, I am extremely proud of this team. This is a great tournament and I wish we could have been here a little longer, but we will have fun watching our conference teams play, we will get better and we'll try and get back here next season."
 
NCU got off to a fast start to the game, going up 10-0 and taking a 15-5 lead into the second quarter as they held the Trojans to 1-for-11 shooting over the first ten minutes.
 
The Beacons built their lead to as many as 15 points in the second quarter but a 9-0 Taylor run closed out the half and NCU owned just a 30-26 margin at the intermission. Taylor began to chip away in the third and finally took their first lead of the game with 4:30 remaining. The Trojans pulled away as they out-scored NCU 22-10 in the fourth.
 
"We stopped moving the ball and missed some shots inside that we needed down the stretch, so that was a little disappointing," said Alexander. "Credit Taylor, though. They defended well and made the buckets they needed."
 
Taylor was led by Kendall Bradbury, the leading scorer in the NAIA, but held her eight-points under her average as she scored 15.Cassidy Wyse added 13 points and six assists and Josie Cobb scored 13 points with eight boards.
 
The Beacons were led by freshman Morgan McKinney, scoring game-highs with 17 points, nine rebounds, and three steals. Anamaria Virjoghe and Katerina Brejchova added ten points apiece.
 
Senior Niki Duncan scored three points, hitting one triple to tie her own single-season record for threes at 63.  She, along with Brejchova, Maddi Bartholomew, and Kristen Parr put a final stamp on their careers.
 
"This was a special class of seniors. I love them and I am so thankful for the effort and the time that they gave us. Niki came and played for three years and gave everything she had for us hitting all those threes and she's been a privilege to coach. Kat has been our heart this season. She works her tail off and makes us go and I'm very proud of her. Maddi B came back to play and Kristen came over to challenge herself with something new and it just goes to show what a family we have built here."
 
The No. 18-ranked Beacons broke numerous records during the 2017-18 season and posted their first ever 20-win season as they ended the campaign at 23-7. No. 15 Taylor (24-10) advances to the second round of the tournament on Friday where they will take on No. 2 ranked Concordia University Nebraska.
 
"I am excited about our future. Our guard play is going to get better with some of our kids that were out this year. We have some great kids coming in, and right now we are very young. Kids like Morgan, Allison and Dani are going to continue to mature and get better and we are going to be a force."