ST. JOSEPH, MO. -- The Georgia Southwestern State University women's basketball team saw its historic season come to an end late Monday night at St. Joseph Civic Arena in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Championship. The Lady Hurricanes dropped a back-and-forth affair to Minnesota State University, 93-88, in a first-ever meeting between the schools.

In a game that saw seven ties and 14 lead changes, GSW trailed 24-21 after the first quarter. The teams combined for 16 fouls in the opening period and despite shooting their worst percentage in a quarter during the game, 27.3 percent, MSU made the most of 12 free throw attempts, sinking 10.

GSW quickly trailed by five points in the second as the Mavericks scored on their opening possession of the quarter. The Hurricanes slowly chipped away and eventually regained the lead on a 3-pointer from Kayhla Adams with 4:04 left in the half. GSW built its largest margin of the evening, a 10-point advantage, on a layup by Destiny Garrett with 1:43 left until the break. An offensive rebound and put back off a second free throw for MSU, followed by a steal and 3-pointer quickly shaved the deficit to four points for the Mavericks in the span of 37 seconds, but Adams sent the Lady Hurricanes into the locker room with some momentum after knocking down another 3-pointer. Her bucket with just under five seconds remaining, put GSW ahead 52-45 at halftime.

MSU held the Lady Hurricanes scoreless for the first 2:05 of the third quarter and erased the halftime margin. The Mavericks opened the third on a 14-2 run, but could not extend their lead past six points before GSW went on a run of its own, outscoring MSU 12-3 to close out the period and take a 71-68 lead into the fourth quarter.

The teams traded baskets throughout the final period and GSW held its final lead of the season, 85-84, with 1:24 to play after a Lexi McCully 3-pointer. The Mavericks answered on their next trip down the floor by knocking down a long range bucket and GSW was unable to score until the closing seconds while MSU capitalized on trips to the charity stripe to inflate the final margin.

McCully led the Lady Hurricanes with 18 points. She sank 4 of 7 from beyond the arc and 7 of 14 shots overall. As has been the case all season, GSW had a balanced scoring attack with five players scoring in double figures. Garrett finished with 14 points behind 5 of 8 shooting. Jashanti Simmons scored 13 points and tied for the game high with five rebounds. Ndidiamaka Ndukwe added 11 points and Leah Johnson chipped in 10 to go with five boards. Adams drained all three of her attempts from beyond the arc to score nine points.

GSW finished ahead in most statistical categories. They had a higher field goal percentage, 54.5 to 42.5 percent, were more efficient from beyond the arc, 53.3 to 32.1 percent, grabbed more rebounds, 39-35, and their bench outscored MSU, 52-27. However, turnovers proved costly. GSW committed 13 more turnovers. Offensive rebounds also hurt GSW as MSU pulled down seven more on their end than the Lady Hurricanes.

GSW, ranked 11th in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II poll and seeded fourth in the Elite Eight, finished its season with a record of 29-4. The 29 wins is a school record and the four losses are the fewest in a season in program history. Minnesota State, ranked 13th by the WBCA, entered the Elite Eight as the fifth seed and improved its record to 30-5.