TULSA, Okla. – St. Edward's Women's Basketball's season ended on Sunday with a 75-52 loss in the Heartland Conference Tournament Final, to the No. 1 team in the country, Lubbock Christian. However, the Hilltoppers still named two to the all-tournament team in LEXI FATHEREE and KHIANI CLARK.
 
In the final game of the season, Fatheree scored 12 points with eight rebounds. She finished the tournament averaging 16.6 points and four rebounds per-game. Clark tallied nine boards with eight points, and finished her postseason averaging a double-double with 11.3 points and 12.6 rebounds a game. She also dished out 4.3 assists each contest.
 
SHAKERA BARNES scored a team-high 13 points in the championship game. She finished her newcomer-of-the-year season as the Hilltoppers leading scorer with 13.8 points a game.  ABBY HOPPER also scored in double digits with 10.
 
St. Edward's closes the season with an overall record of 12-17, and a league record of 8-10. Lubbock Christian continues its historic first year of eligibility with a perfect record of 29-0.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of this team, and how they represented themselves, the team, and the university," said Head Coach J.J. Riehl. "Obviously, Lubbock is an elite team and I respect how they represent the conference. I couldn't be more pleased with the resolve and resilience we showed today on the court. We just didn't have enough gas in the tank to get over the hump."
 
It took almost two full minutes of play for LCU to score its first points, as the Hilltopper defense stood strong against the high-scoring Lady Chaps. St. Edward's responded to the game-opening three pointer with a jumper in the lane from Hopper. However, 50 percent shooting from the No. 1 seed pushed their lead to 22-11 at the end of the first quarter.
 
St. Edward's defense came out strong again the second period, forcing LCU to start 0-6 from the field. Barnes brought the Lady Chaps lead under 10 with a jump shot from the elbow, and buried another to make it 22-15. An acrobatic layup from the second-team all conference player drew a foul, and pulled the Hilltoppers within six.
 
However, a flurry of scoring to close the quarter resulted in a halftime score of 41-28. Lubbock Christian used the third quarter to pull away, outscoring the Hilltoppers 21-8. Coach Riehl's team outscored the opposition, 16-13 in the final period, but it would not be enough.
 
The Hilltoppers lone senior, ATEH ADE, ended her season in style. Ade entered the game with less than a minute to play, and immediately drained a three pointer from the corner in front of her bench. Ade's departure, due to graduation, leaves a void in leadership and positivity. However, the remainder of the team is slated to return in 2016-17 and they will be looking to make another run to the finals.
 
Fans can follow the team in the offseason at GoHilltoppers.com, and on social media at @SEUWBasketball on Twitter, and at St. Edward's University Women's Basketball on Facebook.