OWENSBORO, Ky. - Tiffin women's basketball's great late-season run came to an end on Tuesday afternoon in Kentucky, as the seven-seeded Dragons fell to the two-seeded Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers 88-70 in the quarterfinals of the GMAC Championships.

In just her second season at the helm of the program, coach Jessie Ivey took Tiffin to the postseason for the first time since 2012, winning six of their final eight contests to earn a conference tournament berth. The spot was clinched in the grandest of fashions as well, with the Dragons upsetting No. 17 KWC in double overtime last Saturday for just the Panthers' second loss all season.

The Dragons came out very strong to begin the game, trying to carry the momentum from Saturday's thriller into the Owensboro Sportscenter. Tiffin took an early 7-2 lead on a jumper from Aarion Nichols three minutes in, and would still lead 12-8 with 2:43 remaining in the first quarter. The Panthers would close the gap, though, taking the lead on a free throw with less than a second on the clock to end the first period with an 18-17 advantage.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, the momentum had swung in favor of KWC, with the Panthers opening the second quarter on a 17-2 run to take a 35-19 lead with five minutes to go until halftime. A Brooke Wesner triple ended the run, but Tiffin still went into the break trailing by 13, 43-30.

Tiffin fought hard in the second half, but could not get the deficit back below double digits for the rest of the game.

Nichols led the Dragons with 18 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Three other Dragons were in double figures, as Wesner tallied 15 points with four made threes, Savanah Richards recorded 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists, and Jada Tate notched 10 points and five boards.

As was the case for much of the season, Tiffin won the turnover battle in the game with just 14 turnovers and forcing 21 giveaways by the Panthers.

Tiffin finishes the year 13-16 overall and 8-10 in GMAC play.