MILWAUKEE — The Rockford College women led by one at half and trailed by just one with six minutes left to play in their postseason opener Wednesday night.

But Wisconsin Lutheran finished up the first-round Northern Athletics Conference tourney game on an 18-2 run, and it finished off the Regents’ season with a 52-37 decision.

"We were right there with them, and we just hit that wall. All year long we’ve had that five- to eight-minute stretch that just kills us,” Rockford head coach Jessica Stanek said. "We couldn’t get anything to fall, and it was at the wrong time.”

Rockford (8-18) trailed 36-35 after Nicole Lawler’s jumper with 7:35 left in the second half. But the Regents missed their next seven shots as Wisconsin Lutheran (15-11) took control.

Megan Lawler, playing with a mask after a facial injury last game, finished up with nine points and eight rebounds, but Rockford shot 28 percent (7-for-25) in the second half of the season-ending defeat. Melissa Swaziek scored nine as well, and Britney Curry was just 2-for-13 with five points, but she hauled in eight boards.

This story appeared at http://www.rrstar.com/sports/x692844992/Regents-fade-down-stretch-bow-out-in-NAC-tourney-opener on February 25, 2010.