The Wildcats, ranked No. 22 in NCAA Division II when the week began, lost their final nonconference game of the regular season at No. 21 Ashland 84-62 on Sunday afternoon.

Coupled with a 68-50 loss at Northwood in downstate Midland on Friday, NMU is now 8-2 overall though still 2-0 in the GLIAC.

Northern plays nothing but conference games the rest of the way, jumping back into the fray right after the new year begins, traveling to Davenport at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 2, then making the short trek over to Grand Valley State two days later.

On Sunday, the Wildcats didn’t shoot quite as well as Ashland and didn’t get as many chances at the free-throw line. NMU made 43% from the field (26 of 61) while the Eagles were good on 55% (35 of 64). Plus, Northern was just 4 of 5 on free throws compared to Ashland’s 9 of 11.

Northern Michigan University’s Sarah Newcomer, front, protects the ball while driving to the basket during a GLIAC women’s basketball game played against Wisconsin-Parkside at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Dec. 7. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Mackenzie Holzwart came off the bench to lead Northern in scoring with 14 points, making 6 of 10 shots, in just 21 minutes court time as she also pulled in four rebounds.

Teammate Alyssa Nimz added 12 points and six rebounds, while CJ Romero had eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Negaunee High School product Alyssa Hill seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Hayley Smith starred for Ashland (11-3) with game highs of 20 points, 12 rebounds and five steals while she also dished out four assists.

The Eagles jumped out to an 11-2 lead just past the midpoint of the opening quarter, NMU’s only points in that stretch a Nimz layup with 6:54 left in the first.

The Wildcats briefly fell behind by double digits later in the quarter before getting it back to 18-11 by the start of the second following another Nimz layup with 45 seconds to go.

Ashland again opened up its lead in quarter No. 2, getting it to as many as 15 points, 31-16, with 4:32 left before halftime.

But NMU stayed within hailing distance at 39-26 at halftime, their final points on a Romero triple 1:03 before the period ended.

The Eagles continually worked to increase their lead in the third, taking their biggest advantage of 23 points, 67-44, just before the quarter ended on a Smith layup.

While Northern actually outscored their hosts by a single point in the fourth, 18-17, they never got it back to within 20 points throughout the final period.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.