But despite Schultz’s huge numbers, the Wildcats couldn’t get a win as Wisconsin-Parkside’s Alyssa Nelson knocked down a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and hand NMU a 58-55 loss.

The defeat ends Northern’s win streak at two and dropped it into a tie with Michigan Tech for second place in the GLIAC North Division at 4-3.

It was an up-and-down game for the Wildcats (7-8) as they opened the game on a 15-0 run, starting with a layup by Schultz. NMU closed out the first quarter with a 20-6 lead and continued to roll in the second. With 7:34 left, Emily Mueller hit a jumper to extend Northern’s advantage to 17 points at 26-9 as the ‘Cats still maintained a 33-21 lead at the half.

Things started going south for NMU in the second half. Parkside (9-6, 6-1) outscored the Wildcats 25-9 in the third quarter, getting Northern’s lead down to four at 37-33 on a trey from Nelson, and then snatching away the lead at 40-39 on a Nelson jumper. The Rangers led 46-42 to start the fourth.

Emily Mueller

NMU fought back to tie it at 46-46 on buckets by Schultz and former Marquette Redette Amber Huebner. From there in, the two started to trade buckets for most of the rest of the game.

A layup from Carolina Rahkonen put Parkside up 55-52 with 1:41 left, but Northern’s Liz Lutz knocked down a triple to tie it 55-55 with 21 seconds remaining.

Then with 17 seconds left, Northern’s Erin Honkala made a steal and the Wildcats had a chance to take the lead, but Makaylee Kuhn missed a layup.

The Rangers’ Taylor Stephen snagged the rebound and Parkside called timeout. On the ensuing inbound play, Nelson caught the ball and hit the winning shot.

The Wildcats return home at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to face Ferris State.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.