The Lady Wildcats' 11-game winning streak came to a screeching halt thanks to a 60-37 Show-Me Conference loss to the state-ranked Lady Comets on Tuesday night.
New Bloomfield (14-3, 4-1 SMC) had trouble scoring points, a problem that Fatima - ranked No. 4 in the MBCA/MOsports.com Class 3 - did not have.
The Lady Comets jumped out to a 20-11 lead after one quarter. Fatima's offense cooled off in the second, but the Lady Wildcats didn't heat up.
New Bloomfield logged just five points in the second stanza to trail 32-16 at the break.
"We had a lot more turnovers than we had all year," Lady Wildcats head coach Brett Craighead said. "...I kind of expected (that), but when we did (control the ball), we couldn't finish baskets on the other end."
Craighead liked his team's response after halftime, but New Bloomfield was still outgained 28-21 to produce the final margin.
"(The Lady Comets) are long and they're fast; they're probably the fastest team we've played all year," Craighead said. "We just didn't hit shots. We had trouble with their pressure."
Senior forward Ashley Kelley paced the Lady Wildcats with 13 points. Senior forward Taylor Howard chipped in with nine points, while freshman guard Madi Craighead added eight.
Fatima's Sammey Bunch led all players with 21 points. Kate Massman contributed 10 for the Lady Comets.
New Bloomfield bowed 42-35 in the junior varsity game for its first loss of the season. Freshman guard Alexandra Morningstar finished with 14 points and sophomore guard Kate Baxter added nine for the Lady Wildcats (6-1).
New Bloomfield returns to the court as the top seed in next week's 31st-annual Sturgeon Tournament. New Bloomfield will take on No. 8 Westran at 6 p.m. next Monday at the middle school.