COLUMBUS, Ohio – After Lubbock Christian hit a three-pointer to force the first double overtime National Championship game in NCAA Division II history, SWOSU's dream season was ended just short of the ultimate goal with a 95-85 defeat to the Lady Chaps.
 
The Lady Bulldogs conclude the record-setting season with a record of 35-2 overall, which establishes a new single-season school record for victories and includes winning the Great American Conference regular season and tournament championships along with the first NCAA Regional Championship in school history.
 
SWOSU had to overcome slow starts to both halves, falling behind 10-0 early in the contest and shooting just 2-of-17 in the first quarter to fall behind 17-11 at that point. The Lady Bulldogs heated up in the second quarter and outscored LCU 22-9, going into the intermission up 33-26 after Maddie Sperle and Tyra Aska hit consecutive three-pointers to close out the half.
 
A short jumper by Hailey Tucker pushed the Lady Dawgs lead to 10 at 36-26 in the opening minute of the third quarter, but LCU answered with a 15-0 run over the next three minutes that had the Lady Chaps leading 41-36. In a quarter full of runs, SWOSU answered and scored the next seven points and eventually pushed their lead to four before LCU again closed strong and led 55-49 after three.
 
As they've done all year long, the Lady Bulldogs showed their resilience in the fourth quarter and scored seven straight points after falling behind by nine early in the quarter. SWOSU would pull the game tied after Taber Beer hit a three-pointer with 3:35 to play and the teams would trade just one basket over the remainder of regulation as both defenses stepped up and got stops in the closing seconds.
 
Hayden Priddy tied the score at 66-66 with 1:24 to play before the Lady Dawgs got a stop to regain possession with 49 seconds to play. Bethany Franks had two jump shot opportunities on SWOSU's final possession, with Tyra Aska extending the possession with an offensive rebound, but the final shot bounced off the rim at the horn and sent the game into overtime.
 
Franks scored seven points in the first overtime session and had her team up 73-72 when she then grabbed a steal to put possession back in the hands of the Lady Dawgs with 13 seconds to play. Beer was fouled and sent to the line, pushing the lead to 75-72 with 11 seconds to play, leaving SWOSU one defensive stop away from their ultimate goal. The Lady Bulldogs played great defensive on the first shot, forcing a tough three-pointer before the rebound bounced into the hands of LCU's Allie Schulte, who found Maddi Chitsey on the wing for an open three-pointer that cleared the net and tied the game with less than three seconds to play.
 
Riding the momentum of their late basket in overtime, LCU scored the first 10 points of the second overtime and outscored SWOSU 20-10 in the final five minutes to conclude the thrilling Championship game.
 
In her final collegiate game, SWOSU's Hailey Tucker finished with 30 points and a season-high 16 rebounds while also collecting three blocked shots, three steals and two assists to earn a spot on the Elite Eight All-Tournament Team. Tucker departs the Lady Bulldog program as the Great American Conference's all-time leading scorer, while ranking second in school history with 2,360 career points, a mark which also ranks her 19th in NCAA Division II history. In addition, Tucker is SWOSU's all-time leader in three-point field goals made (276) and blocked shots (224) while ranking second with 936 rebounds.
 
Joining Tucker on the All-Tournament Team was Bethany Franks, who set a new career-high with 25 points in addition to six rebounds and six steals in the Championship game.
 
Hayden Priddy finished with 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and one steal in the final game of her illustrious career, which will see her graduate as SWOSU's third all-time leading scorer (1,864 points) and the school's career leader with 489 assists.
 
The Lady Bulldog senior class of 2019 certainly left their mark on the program with 101 wins over the past four seasons, two Great American Conference regular season championships, one GAC Tournament title and the longest postseason run in GAC history.