David Ghan/The Falcon Senior Beth Christensen is bombarded by a UAA player after gaining possession of the ball during the NCAA Western Regional Final match between SPU and UAA.

Character. Work ethic. Dedication. All words that Falcon head coach Julie van Beek used to describe her four departing seniors who led the SPU women's basketball team to a memorable 29-1 season.

Senior forwards Libby Magnuson and Jessie Christensen, along with guards Beth Christensen and Jackie Hollands, were simply winners by nature, said van Beek.

Unfortunately for those seniors and many Falcon players, the memorable season didn't end as they had hoped.

"It was bittersweet. I have played many memorable games at SPU and accomplished so much on that floor, but obviously I was hoping to win my last game as a Falcon," Jessie Christensen said regarding their recent and only loss to the ninth-ranked University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) last Monday.

In a season that only saw wins, for the first time the Falcon women stood on their home floor in disbelief. With tears in their eyes, they trudged into the locker room after being upset by UAA in the West Regional championship game by a final score of 50-44.

"It's like being shot," said head coach Julie van Beek of her team's early exit of the tournament. "You're not ready for it."

For the previously-undefeated Falcons, in the middle of what sports fans call "the perfect season," no one was ready for what transpired on Monday.

Having defeated the Seawolves (30-5) twice already this season, both coming down to last-second shots, it appeared as if the Falcons again would find a way to beat the buzzer and steal the game from their Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) rivals.

With 11 ticks left, down by two points, Beth Christensen took the inbounds pass, drove to the left side of the key and looked for an open teammate, but UAA's Maria Nilsson managed to step in front of the wayward pass and intercept the ball.

With no other option, the Falcons fouled UAA's all-conference center Rebecca Kielpinski with nine tenths of a second left. After Kielpinski made both free throws, Magnuson heaved a desperation pass the length of the court that sailed over her teammates' heads into the bleachers.

"I think I was pretty mentally numb at that point," recalls Hollands of the moment the ball soared out of bounds. "It was obvious that the season was over, and it was hard for us to let it sink in."

UAA guard Kalhie Quinones, voted most outstanding player of the tournament, hit an unnecessary lay-in at the buzzer for the final six-point margin.

The Falcons missed open shots left and right throughout the game, shooting 30 percent from the floor, 50 percent from the free throw line, and scoring their least amount of points all season. No Falcon player scored in double digits.

"We could just not buy a bucket," said Jessie Christensen. "It was the worst time [for] us to go cold, but credit [UAA's] defense which did great on the defensive end."

Van Beek said that her team had good looks at the basket, but they didn't fall the way they did in the previous two games against the Seawolves.

Shooting trouble was not the Falcons' only downfall in the game, as they were out rebounded 43-31, which was the worst margin for the Falcons all year.

"None of us anticipated this being our last night together," Jessie Christensen said in a post-game press conference.

Just two games earlier, the Falcons started their postseason schedule by dominating Saint Martin's University by a final score of 92-49. The Falcons shot 49 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc.

They continued their streak by defeating the University of California San Diego a day later by a final score of 76-67 on 39 percent field-goal shooting and 85 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

By defeating the Falcons, UAA snapped an eight-game losing streak against SPU that dated back to the 1999-2000 season. The Seawolves advanced as far as the Final Four before losing to Northern Kentucky University (NKU). NKU (28-8) went on to win in the NCAA Division II national championship game against South Dakota University (33-2) by a final score of 63-58.

Despite the one blip in an otherwise impressive season, the attitudes of the graduating Falcon seniors were not diminished.

"I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to play basketball at SPU," said Hollands. "I am definitely going to miss being a Falcon, but at the same time, I am ready to begin the next phase of my life."

"I have made many amazing friends and people who have influenced my life and will continue to make a difference in my life," said Jessie Christensen.