The proverbial curtain came down on Erica Woods’s collegiate basketball career in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday.

This after Woods and her Marshall University team-mates lost 79-63 against the University of Alabama-Birmingham in the second round of the Conference USA Championship.

Woods, who plays guard, scored ten points, grabbed two rebounds and had two steals in a losing cause.

Sixteenth-seeded Marshall trailed UAB by eight points late in the third quarter, but were unable to make further inroads as their rivals went on a 12-0 run to kill the game off.

The defeat overshadowed The Herds’ impressive display from the free-throw line where they went 10 for 11. The day before, Marshall made history by becoming the lowest seed to win a conference tournament game in women’s Division I basketball when they toppled ninth-ranked Florida Atlantic 80-73. Woods scored four points and grabbed two rebounds.

Wednesday’s loss to UAB arrived exactly a week after Woods was honoured during Senior Night at the Cam Henderson Centre where Marshall came from behind to beat the University of Texas-San Antonio 81-76 in overtime.

Marshall ended the regular season with an 11-20 record and went 3-13 in conference play.

The daughter of Eric Woods, the former Boulevard defender, enrolled at Marshall in the summer of 2009 on a full athletic scholarship and earned several accolades throughout her collegiate career.

Last season, she led Marshall in free throws and steals and scored a career-high 20 points against the University of Central Florida. She also received the Conference USA Spirit of Service Award in the same season.

The 22-year-old athlete also led her alma mater in rebounds, shooting percentage and copped MVP honours during an outstanding 2011-12 campaign.

Reflecting upon her college career, Woods said: “I am extremely proud of what I have been able to achieve during my collegiate career and would not trade the experience for the world. It was an amazing and humbling experience and I will definitely miss my team-mates and playing at the collegiate level.”

The highlight of Woods’s time at Marshall arrived in a nationally televised game against Southern Miss in which she achieved double digits for the first time as a freshman on five of ten shooting from the field for 11 points. She also grabbed six rebounds.

“That was my most cherished moment playing for The Herd and playing on TV had also been a dream of mine,” Woods said. “When I played on ESPN2 versus Southern Mississippi and the entire Island of Bermuda was able to view.”

As well as playing NCAA women’s basketball, mother-of-one Woods won a bronze medal for Bermuda at the 2007 Island Games in Greece. She has also represented Great Britain at the Under-20 European Championships.

“I would describe my overall career as a dream come true,” she said. “I have been able to travel the world to compete and play the sport that I love and have had my education paid for in the process.”