EUGENE - The Lady Wildcats could not recover from a 14-point halftime deficit in bowing to the Lady Eagles in a Show-Me Conference loss Monday night.
The loss was the fourth in a row for New Bloomfield, which slipped to 3-6 on the season and 0-3 in the SMC. The victory was the second straight for Eugene (4-2), which was playing its SMC opener.
The Lady Wildcats were on top 11-10 after one quarter Monday night, but the Lady Eagles countered by outscoring the Lady Wildcats 25-10 in the second quarter to build a 35-21 advantage at the break.
New Bloomfield edged Eugene 20-18 in the third quarter to make it 53-41, but the Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Wildcats 15-11 in the fourth quarter to close out the win.
Junior guard Asya Nichols topped New Bloomfield with 13 points and junior forward Ellie Emerson contributed 12. Senior guard Makenna Branch collected eight rebounds and Nichols had six.
"Overall, I thought we played pretty well, especially coming off the (holiday) break," Lady Wildcats head coach Patrick Center said. "We played with a lot of energy and our effort was good - it was definitely a game we could have won.
"In the second quarter, Eugene went on a run and got the lead to about 20 at one point, and we cut it to 14 at the half. In the second half, we battled hard and cut the lead to nine, but we just couldn't get any closer."
Maggie Stieferman delivered a game-high 27 points to lead three players in double figures for Eugene. Kayla Bond tallied 15 points and Kaydi Alderman chipped in with 12.
New Bloomfield is the sixth seed for next week's South Callaway Tournament. The Lady Wildcats face No. 3 seed Montgomery County in the first round at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the middle school gym.