ASHLAND, Ohio — The Northern Michigan women's basketball team fell to Ashland, 68-54, in the GLIAC tournament quarterfinals Tuesday at Kates Gymnasium.

The Eagles used their home court to their advantage in the opening minutes by running out on a 7-0 advantage. Darby Youngstrom connected with Chloe Tompkins to end the run for the Wildcats with a triple from the corner at the 7:29 mark. After a Laina Snyder jump shot, Tompkins drove the lane for the layup to cut the lead to four, 9-5. Ashland responded by quickly growing their lead up to 10, at 17-7, with 4:09 to play in the quarter. Northern Michigan trailed, 26-8, after one.

The Eagles opened the second frame by growing their lead to 25, at 33-8, following a Brooke Smith three pointer with 7:13 to play in the half. The Wildcats battled back after Sydney Dillinger found Haley Kershner on the three point arc to cut the deficit to 22, at d35-13. Later in the quarter, Kershner collected a defensive rebound to set up a Kendall Martenet jump shot to cut the deficit to 19, at 42-23, with 1:34 to play in the half. Northern Michigan trailed at halftime, 44-24.

The Wildcats came out the locker room by cutting the lead down to 18, at 48-30, after a Taylor Hodell jump shot at the 6:22 mark. Later in the quarter, Hodell banked a jump shot off the glass to cut the deficit to 15, at 49-34, with 3:30 on clock. Northern Michigan went into the final quarter of play trailing, 54-34.

Ashland opened the second quarter by extending their lead to 22, at 58-36, with 7:30 remaining. Later in the quarter, back-to-back triples by Tompkins cut the Eagle lead down to 13, at 62-49, with 3:54 to play. Following a Hodell layup and an Ashland layup and jump shot, Tompkins once again connected from downtown to bring the Wildcats within 12, at 66-54, with 2:24 remaining. The Ashland defense held strong for the remaining time to close out Northern Michigan.

The Eagles outscored the Wildcats, 26-8, in the first quarter. The Wildcats then limited the Eagles to 42 points over the final three quarters and netted 46 of their own.

Hodell led the Wildcats with a game-high 17 points and team-high five rebounds. Tompkins posted 14 points and was 4-of-5 from behind the three-point arc. Kershner rounded out the top three performers with nine points.

This is the fifth-consecutive season the Wildcats have qualified for the GLIAC tournament. Northern Michigan closes the 2015-16 campaign with a 13-16 (12-10 GLIAC) record.