DOVER, Del. - For one half of play the sixth-seed Gallaudet University women's basketball team looked like it was the higher seed against third-seed Wesley College as the Bison controlled the game and the score on the road in the Capital Athletic Conference tournament first round. Unfortunately, for GU it was the first half and not the second half when it held a lead over the Wolverines. Wesley used a four-minute spurt early in the second half to go on a 19-0 run and steal the lead away from the Bison en route to the 76-58 victory on Tuesday night at the Wentworth Gymnasium.

Gallaudet caps its most successful season in a decade as the Bison finish with a 14-12 record, the same mark posted by the 1999-2000 team. The Bison were making their first CAC tournament appearance since the 2006-07 season. This was the last game for Gallaudet as members of the CAC as the Bison, charter members of the conference that formed in 1989, will leave this summer for the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC).

Wesley (17-9) advances to Thursday's CAC semifinal round game in Arlington, Va., to face second-seed Marymount (Va.) University (24-1). The Saints, ranked No. 7 in the nation, are seeking their 11th conference championship and first since 2005-06. Wesley has never won the CAC as this is the third year the Wolverines have been members.

Junior center Easter Faafiti (Pittsburg, Calif.), the reigning CAC Player of the Week, had a monster game as she recorded her 16th double-double of the season with a game-high 22 points and a career-high 21 rebounds. This is the 10th time this season Faafiti, the leading scorer in the CAC, has scored 20 or more points. In fact, she had double-double totals in each half. She scored 10 points, 10 rebounds in the first half and improved in the second half with 12 points, 11 rebounds. She also passed out a team-high three assists in 39 minutes of action. Faafiti, who has been named CAC Player of the Week four times this season, solidified her chances to earn All-CAC honors and make a run at the CAC Player of the Year award.

The Bison led for the majority of the first half. GU's largest lead was eight, 15-7, just six minutes in after junior center Nukeitra Hayes (Anderson, Ind.) made a lay-up. Wesley tied the game twice and took leads, briefly, twice before Gallaudet ran into halftime up 31-30.

The second half was a different story as the Wolverines blitzed the Bison with their outside shooting to begin the final 20 minutes of play. The two teams traded baskets to begin the second half, Wesley drained a three and Faafiti a lay-up, as the game was knotted at 33 with 19 minutes to play. Over the next four minutes Wesley outscored Gallaudet 19-0. The Wolverines drained four three-pointers led by Michele Mules (15 points), who hit three of her game-high five three-pointers. Allison Beddia (12 points, four rebounds) added one three-pointer as Gallaudet missed six shots and turned the ball over five times.

Gallaudet had dug a huge hole down 52-33 with 15 minutes left to play.

The Bison didn't give up as they slowly chipped away at the score. GU used a run of its own to pull within 10 points with five minutes left in regulation. In a minute and 14 seconds the Bison scored 10 points. Faafiti converted a three-point play, freshman Ann Whited (Fishers, Ind.) and Hayes made back-to-back baskets before freshman Katelyn Jurney (Tulsa, Okla.) drained a three-pointer as Wesley coughed up the ball three times in that span. GU had cut the deficit to 65-55 with 5:11 left but that would be as close as the Bison got.

Gallaudet didn't have a field goal over the final two minutes of play as Wesley closed out the game. Beddia added her third and final three-pointer with 16 seconds left in the game to ice it. Junior forward Angie Owens finished with 14 points, six rebounds while Cory Boyd led all Wolverines with 17 points and nine assists.

Gallaudet shot 39.3 percent (22-for-58) from the field and missed 15 attempts at the free-throw line (13-for-28). For the second straight game against the Wolverines the Bison surrendered 13 three-pointers to Wesley. The Wolverines shot 43.9 percent (29-for-66) from the field. The Bison held the advantage on rebounds (49-35), points in the paint (38-28) and second chance points (18-13). Wesley edged Gallaudet in bench points (14-12) and scored 28 points off 22 Bison turnovers.

Hayes finished the game with 15 points and nine rebounds but was held to just five points and three boards in the second half. Whited was the third-leading scorer with eight points and six rebounds. Wesley's starters outscored Gallaudet, 62-46, as the Bison only received nine combined points from the three starters that began the game alongside Faafiti and Hayes.

The game did mark the return of three former starters for Gallaudet. Freshman Shaquana McDonough (Pembroke, Mass.) and sophomore guard Andrea Amati (Frederick, Md.) came in off the bench to help the Bison. McDonough finished with seven points, four assists, three steals and two assists in 27 minutes of play. Amati was not as effective in her 16 minutes of action where she scored two points. Senior forward Brittainy Payne (Pine Hill, N.J.) suited up in her game as a Bison but only came off the bench in the final 40 seconds of the game. The trio had missed a combined 21 games, most of the month of February.

The early exit from the CAC tournament is nothing new for the Bison as they have lost eight consecutive first round games dating back to the 2000-01 season. GU is 8-18 all-time in CAC tournament play as the Bison reached the conference finals twice but never won the championship.

This was the best year for Gallaudet coach Kevin Cook, in his third season with the Bison, as the Buff and Blue won more games this season then the past three years combined. The 7-9 conference record was the best since the 9-5 mark set by the 1999-00 team. The seven conferences wins are the fourth most in GU history since it has been a member of the CAC. In fact, the seven wins equals the total amount of conference wins the Bison had over the past nine years combined (7-123).

Gallaudet concludes its run in the CAC with an overall record of 178-336 (.346) and regular-season conference record of 73-203 (.264) in 20 years.