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CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky, -- An historic Texas Lutheran Women's Basketball season came to a close Friday in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship first round with a 74-62 loss to John Carroll (Ohio).

At Thomas More College's Connor Convocation Center, John Carroll hit seven three-pointers, shot 44.3 percent from the field and put four players in double figures against the Bulldogs.

John Carroll improved to 22-4 overall and advanced to the NCAA DIII second round to face No. 1-ranked Thomas More, a 95-58 winner over Salem (N.C.), also on Friday.

TLU finishes 2013-14 with a school-record 23 wins, a school-best 23-6 overall record and numerous other program bests. The Bulldogs made their first NCAA Division III tournament after winning the program's first conference title since 1985.

TLU won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship in its first season as a member of the SCAC. The Bulldogs and Head Coach Mel Dixon engineered a 15-win improvement over last season. Dixon was named the SCAC Coach of the Year.

Against John Carroll, the Bulldogs cut a 17-point second-half deficit down to six, at 68-62, with three minutes to play. TLU went on an 18-7 run from the nine-minute mark to the three-minute mark.

TLU freshman forward Kristen Lye (San Antonio/Clark) scored 10 of the Bulldogs' 18 in the run. Bulldog sophomore Taylor Dydalewicz (Lake Travis/Dripping Springs) added seven in the TLU spurt.

The six point deficit for TLU would be as close as the Bulldogs would get. JCU's Emily Taylor answered with a lay-up, and Allison Lustig hit four straight free throws to push the lead back to 12 two minutes later.

"I was proud of the way we came back and made it interesting," said Dixon. "This team always fights back when we are down. They don't give up. They don't fold the tent. They keep fighting."

"We're disappointed with the loss, but nothing can take away what these girls have done this year. They set a lot of school records and did a lot of things that this program has never done. I couldn't prouder of what they accomplished this year."

Dydalewicz paced the Bulldogs with 17 points and eight rebounds. The Bulldog forward hit seven of her 14 shot attempts and grabbed four offensive rebounds. She also dished out three assists and tallied a pair of steals.

Freshman guard/forward Savannah Hight (San Antonio/Brandeis) hit a pair of three-pointers and scored 15. She also pulled down four rebounds. Lye chipped in 14 points and four rebounds. Junior center Chelsey Stolle (Falls City/Falls City) added four blocks and five rebounds.

Melissa Spahar, the third-leading scorer in NCAA DIII, scored 20 and had 10 rebounds for the Blue Streaks. Spahar scored 16 in the first half. Lustig, the JCU point guard, hit four three-pointers and five of her eight total shots in scoring 18.

JCU's Emily Taylor and Katlyn Spahar each scored 14.

Rebounds were even at 39, and John Carroll turned the ball over 11 more times than TLU (21-10). But the Blue Streaks out-scored the Bulldogs 21-9 at the three-point line and by four at the free throw line (13-9).

The Bulldogs lose only two players from the 2013-14 squad. Seniors Natasha Benavides (San Antonio/South San) and Dalia Camargo (Mission/Mission) each played four seasons for the Bulldogs and will graduate in December 2014. Benavides served as the team's captain for three seasons.

TLU will return four starters, the top five scorers, and eight of its 10 rotational players for 2014-15.