HOLLAND, Mich. – Albion College Coach Doreen Carden opened her postgame press conference by saying the Britons competed. That was an understatement.

Down 14 at halftime, Albion whittled the margin down to one in the closing seconds before bowing to Hope College, 58-55, in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Women's Basketball Tournament semifinal game. Albion completed the season at 18-8, its most successful campaign since the 2007-2008 squad went 22-5.

Hope reeled off a 17-2 run over the final 8 ½ minutes of the first half and that was the difference.

Albion connected on one of its first seven shots as Hope jumped out to a 9-2 lead. Baskets by Patty Rewa and Nicole Dennis, sandwiched around Tanner Johnson's old-fashioned three-point play, trimmed the margin to a point with 13 minutes left on the first half clock.

Albion took its only lead of the night on Lauren Epple's layup that made the score 16-15 with 8:38 to play in the half. The Britons went 5 ½ minutes without a basket until Epple ended the drought by knocking down a jumper which came off a nifty pass from Rewa. Albion didn't help itself during the dry spell, missing the front end of a pair of 1-and-1 opportunities at the line.

Katie Overway came off Hope's bench to score all seven of her first half points after Albion took its brief lead. She was one of four Hope players to score in double figures, finishing with 10.

The DeVos Fieldhouse crowd grew nervous as Albion scored 12 of the first 14 points of the second half. Albion trailed 34-30 on Epple's basket in the lane with 13:48 to play. Brett de Bear kept hitting shot after shot, scoring 11 of her team-high 15 points in the second.

Albion was never able to take the lead, however, as the Flying Dutch hit important 3-point shots. Courtney Kust drilled a pair of "threes" and Megan Kelly's only basket of the night boosted Hope's lead to 56-49 with 1:48 left.

Rewa produced Albion's last three baskets of the season, her last pulling the Britons within one, 56-55, with three seconds left. Rewa completed her fine collegiate career with 14 points and 12 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season. She leaves as the school's sixth-leading scorer with 1,088 points.