WALLA WALLA, Wash.  - It was a shocker to say the least. The No. 7 Whitman College women's basketball team protected its home court all season long, but that came to end as the Blues suffered a heartbreaking 57-55 loss to George Fox in the Northwest Conference Tournament championship, Saturday night at the Sherwood Center.

As one of the nation's top ranked teams, Whitman's hopes of receiving an at-large bid to next week's NCAA Tournament are promising, but all will be revealed when the committee unveils the brackets on Monday.

Mady Burdett scored 14 points on a night where the Blues (24-3) played well in spurts but not well enough to win. Despite shooting only 40% from the floor, the Blues gained steam midway though the fourth quarter and looked on the verge of sealing the win. Haylie McCracken's layup put the Blues up three, then Burdett doubled that margin on a three pointer with 5:08 to play. 

You wouldn't have predicted it, but the Blues managed just two points - a Taylor Chambers layup - the rest of the way. Whitman couldn't keep up its pace while the Bruins continued to work and took the lead for good on an inbounds play gone wrong for the Blues. Hailey Hartney inbounded a pass from near midcourt to a wide open Haley Strowbridge who scored with two seconds left, effectively clinching the win for George Fox (21-6).

It was a slow start for both teams but especially the Blues who went deep into the quarter before even putting a single point on the board. Katie Stahl's elbow three-pointer inside of two minutes finally put the Blues on the scoreboard. Fortunately for the Blues, their defense was staunch from the get-go but it was still a 9-0 run for George Fox to start the game. McCracken scored at the buzzer to make it an 11-7 score by quarter's end.

The lockdown defense continued into the second quarter, but this time Whitman's offense joined in. Burdett drained her first three pointer and Chambers scored on a driving layup to lift Whitman to a 13-0 run and a 16-11 lead. The Bruins did anything but fold and went on a 14-5 run. Kylin Collman's three-pointer tied the game then Emily Spencer's layup extended the lead to 27-21. Lily Gustafson's late bucket brought the score to 27-23 at halftime.

George Fox continued to lead in the third quarter but Burdett drilled back-to-back three pointers to finally put the Blues up at 35-34. The teams traded buckets down the stretch of the quarter but it was Whitman who exited with a one-point lead after a three ball from Chambers and a jumper from Natalie Whitesel.

The NCAA's Division III women's basketball selection show takes place Monday, March 2 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Stay tuned on athletics.whitman.edu for more coverage and how to watch.