WAVERLY, Iowa – The College of Saint Benedict basketball team's 2017-18 season ended a little sooner than it would have liked Friday evening. But it also ended in a spot that some may not have expected heading into the season.
 
No. 24 Saint Benedict fell 79-63 to No. 13 George Fox in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Waverly, Iowa. This marks the end of the best season in nearly a decade for CSB, which wraps up the year 22-5 overall. The national tournament appearance marked the first since 2008-09 for Saint Benedict, and 22 wins is the most for the team since that same season.
 
The loss marked the last game in a CSB uniform for the team's three seniors: Niki Fokken, Chelsey Guetter and Kate Banovetz. Fokken made the most of her 33 minutes on the court, and with a three-point play at the 6:24 mark of the second quarter, she became the 20^th Saint Benedict basketball player to surpass the 1,000-point milestone. She finished the game with 26 points, and wraps up her career with 1,018 – good for 19^th all-time in CSB basketball history.
 
The Bruins, who are now 25-3 and advance to play the winner of Friday night's Wartburg/Webster game, got off to a fast start and led 7-3 early, but were never out of reach of CSB. Banovetz scored twice and Megan Thompson hit a layup to make it a one-point game, 10-9, and a bucket by Fokken made it a one-point game again later in the first, but the Bruins scored late to maintain a 14-11 lead after one.
 
George Fox went on a quick 7-0 run to start the second and push its lead to 10, 21-11, but Fokken's three-point play helped stop the run, and later baskets by Alex Johnson and Fokken and a three from Maddie Schmitz made it a four-point game, 27-23, with 3:48 left in the half. Another layup from Johnson made it a six-point game with just under two minutes to play in the half, but the Bruins scored on a three then got a steal and a layup to make it an 11-point game, 36-25, at halftime.
 
The Bruins pushed their lead to as many as 16 to start the third quarter before CSB made another run. Breanna Gates hit a three and Maddie Schmitz scored to cut the gap to 11, and Guetter, Fokken and Haylee Fingalsen scored to make it a second-point game, 52-45, with 1:29 left, but a layup and another GFU three pushed the gap to 12, 57-45, heading into the final quarter.
 
Thompson scored to start the final quarter and make it a 10-point game, but that's as close as Saint Benedict would get. The Bruins maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final quarter to hold on for the win.
 
Fokken went 11-for-17 from the field to score her 26 points. Guetter finished with 10 points and a team-high five rebounds, and Thompson had nine points and four assists. CSB shot just under 46 percent from the field, but hit just two 3-pointers. The team went 7-for-15 from the line. CSB had 24 rebounds and 13 turnovers.
 
Kaitlin Jamieson scored 26 points and also went over the 1,000-point milestone for her career to lead George Fox, and she also pulled down 11 rebounds. The Bruins shot 49 percent from the field, but went 8-for-15 from long range and a perfect 17-for-17 from the line. George Fox had 21 turnovers, but 41 rebounds to CSB's 24.
 
This season marked the 25^th 20-win season for head coach Mike Durbin, putting him in an elite group of Division III women's basketball coaches. The team loses three seniors, but returns plenty of talent, including All-MIAC Honorable Mention guards Thompson and Sidney Schiffler. Thompson also earned a spot on the MIAC First-Year Team this season.