The final game of the season may not have gone the way the University of Minnesota Duluth women's basketball wanted, but the impact the Bulldogs left after their historic run will last forever in the hearts of UMD basketball fans.

The Bulldogs were defeated by Ashland University 78-67 in the NCAA DII National Championship at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas Saturday, the first NCAA title appearance for UMD program in its history. It was the third-ever title for the undefeated Eagles in the first head-to-head showdown between the two programs.

"It's really, really difficult for me to put into words what this season has been like and how amazing this team is," said eighth-year UMD head coach Mandy Pearson. "Because they are phenomenal people, they work incredibly hard and as you saw tonight, they never give up. Coaches get tired and sometimes they are ready to have a week off, and yet I could have gone on for months and months. This season has been fun, and they've made it so enjoyable."

Without question, the nation's top-two NCAA DII teams showed up on the court Saturday, and the high stakes game broke into a high pace from the opening tip. The Bulldogs and Eagles traded buckets in the opening quarter, with four lead changes in that 10 minutes and what ended up as UMD's biggest lead of three points hit the scoreboard at the 7:08 mark.

Ashland entered the second quarter with a 14-11 lead, and the Bulldogs fought to pull it back to within three points at 18-15 at 7:08 of the frame. But from 6:51 remaining in the quarter until the 3:25 mark, the Eagles went on a 15-0 run that would be the Achilles heel of UMD for the remainder of the game. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, the Bulldogs had been outscored 26-11 in the quarter and trailed the game 40-22.

But any good UMD fan knew the game was far from over, given the exact Bulldog squad had already pulled off a mind-bending comeback just weeks before, and slowly but surely, UMD crawled and scratched its way back into the game. 

Enter phenom super senior Brooke Olson, who was saddled early in the second quarter with a third personal foul and only saw the court for a total of 2:36 in that frame. The reigning WBCA Player of the Year, who had scored just enough points (four) to tie the DII NCAA Tournament scoring record in the first half, took the record over just 14 seconds into the third quarter, reaching 150 points in six NCAA postseason games off a free throw. 

From there, Olson piled on to that record while the Bulldogs defense swarmed the Eagles, eventually out rebounding them in the second half 20-14 and forcing Ashland's hand with 10 steals in the half, including eight in the fourth quarter alone. UMD whittled down the Eagles lead to 13 points (51-38) late in the third quarter after Ashland had led by as many as 21,  and behind Olson's 13 and Maesyn Thiesen's nine fourth quarter points, the Bulldogs cut their deficit by as little as seven points twice in the final 1:35 of play. 

But the Eagles went 12-of-14 from the free throw line down the fourth quarter stretch, the one place the Bulldogs couldn't rush Ashland's offense in a manner it had attempted all afternoon. While UMD held the Eagles offense to just 3-of-10 from the field and 1-of-4 from long distance in the fourth quarter, its 51.0 success rate across all 40 minutes was too much of an uphill climb for the Bulldogs, who shot 38.5 over the game and went 25-of-66 from the field.

"We knew coming in that Ashland was a really good team, and I mean they finished undefeated, which is incredible," said Olson. "Again, they are well coached and had a lot of weapons and we kind of knew we had to play our best game, and we didn't do that for three quarters. You saw that in the fourth quarter, but we were always trying to play catch up. It doesn't feel good to get this far and come up short, but every single time I try to be sad about the game I think no because of the season that we've had."

Olson, who was named to the 2023 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team, led all scorers with 26 points and added seven rebounds and three blocks, and even more impressively, capped the NCAA Tournament scoring record at 171 points.  Ella Gilbertson compiled 14 points with three assists, while Thiesen also added 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in her final game as a Bulldog. 

UMD had 16 points off second chances compared to just five for the Eagles and had 22 points off 21 Ashland turnovers – just one turnover shy of a season-high. The Bulldogs also posted a season-best 14 steals – the second most allowed against the Eagles all season. Taya Hakamaki finished with a career-best six steals, which doubled as the most in a DII title tilt since 2016.

"This was supposed to be a rebuild year, and we never, ever believed that," said Olson. "We put our heads down and worked and loved being the underdogs. I don't think I am going to be sad about the game or the experience that we've had, I'm just sad that it's over, and sad that I will never put on a Bulldogs jersey again. The season of my life is done and that's the hardest part, but looking back on this season, I will remember it more than anything."

UMD finishes its historic season 32-4, posting a record for total wins and NCAA Tournament wins (five). But the impact will long reverberate through Bulldog country.

"I wish that we would have come out with a 'W' obviously, but the amount of pride I have in these people is going to make this a really fun season to remember," said Pearson. "People are going to be talking about what these guys did for a long time."

After a season for the record books, the Bulldogs might not have hoisted the trophy they wanted Saturday, but rest assured, UMD will return to Duluth the champion of hearts.