FORT WORTH, Texas -- The end felt like a gut punch.
Down three points with 6.4 seconds left, the No. 6 seed Washington women's basketball team gave the ball to Sayvia Sellers, who got off a clean-looking three-pointer on the wing.
However, her shot sailed long and bounced out of the rim as time ran out on a 62-59 loss to No. 3 seed TCU in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
This is the heartbreak of March.
For the second straight year, Washington ends the season on the road in the NCAA tournament after missing a three-pointer in the final seconds of a three-point loss. Last year, UW fell 63-60 to Columbia.
Washington finished the season 22-11 and, in many ways, coach Tina Langley's fifth season was a resounding success.
"What an incredible season, and I'm so proud of them," Langley said. "Just to sit up here with them, it's hard not to be emotional because you love them so much and you know the work that they put in and who they are and the way that they serve and love one another in our community and in our university."
The Huskies won their most games and made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
Nine years ago, Washington advanced to the Sweet 16 and was tantalizing close to punching its ticket to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament on Sunday night.
TCU, which is the tallest team among Division I squads, boasts a front line that includes 6-foot-7 center Clara Silva and 6-3 forward Marta Suarez along with guards Taylor Bigby (6-1), Donovyn Hunter (6-0) and Olivia Miles (5-10).
Washington negated TCU's size advantage with a pesky four-guard lineup that double teamed the Horned Frogs in the paint while smothering their perimeter players.
After trailing 13-11 in the first quarter, the Huskies took over in the second and held the Horned Frogs to 2-for-11 shooting to take a 27-19 halftime lead.
It was the fewest points this season for TCU and the second fewest for a UW opponent.
When the roar at Schollmaier Arena rose to ear-splitting levels in the third quarter as 4,822 purple-clad Horned Frogs fans tried to lift their team a comeback, the Huskies had difficulty slowing down TCU star Miles who had eight points in the period.
TCU trimmed its deficit to 39-36 heading into the fourth quarter and closed to 42-40 when Sellers drained a three-pointer and Brynn McGaughy hit a long jumper to go up 47-40.
The Horned Frogs countered with a 7-0 run to knot the score at 47 apiece with 3:50 left.
Trailing by two points in the final 20 seconds of regulation and six seconds on the shot clock, McGaughy scooped in a layup to tie it at 51 and Miles missed a three-pointer as time expired.
Sellers finished with a game-high-tying 18 points on 7-for-22 shooting, Avery Howell had 14 points and eight rebounds while McGaughy tallied 13 points and Hannah Stines chipped in 10 points.
"That was a gritty resilient game," TCU coach Mark Campbell said. "We were down the whole time and just stayed in the fight."
Miles had 18 points on 9-for-24 shooting, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Horned Frogs (31-5), who won their 44th straight home game and head to Sacramento, Calif., next week to face either No. 2 Iowa or No. 10 Virginia in the Sweet 16.