Box Score

Lourdes rallied from a 22-point halftime deficit, cutting Aquinas' lead to just six in the final minute, but was not able to complete the comeback, falling to the Saints 75-69 on Tuesday evening at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.
 
“Tonight's game was the tale of two halves,” head coach Zareth Gray stated afterwards.  “In the second half we played defense like we have played a good part of the year.  We also cut down on turnovers which contributed to the comeback attempt.”
 
The Gray Wolves trailed by as many as 23, 53-30, with 18:46 to play in the game before trying to mount the epic comeback.  Seven straight points, capped with a jumper by Ty Ali (Chicago, Ill./Rich South H.S.) pulled Lourdes within 16 with 15 minutes to play. 
 
The lead grew back to 20, 71-51, with 5:29 remaining before Lourdes went on its big run.  Tarynn Hampton's (Saint Louis, Mo./Alton H.S.) capped a 14-1 run over four minutes, pulling the Gray Wolves within seven, 72-65, at the 1:27 mark. 
 
After the Saints made one of two free throws, Emily Orsini (Akron, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban H.S.) scored inside to cut the lead to six but Lourdes could not get any closer the rest of the way.
 
Lourdes started the game on top as Lauren Tilden (Ravenna, Ohio/Ravenna H.S.) made two free throws before the opening tip courtesy of an Aquinas technical foul for not having the starting lineup in the scorebook on time.  The lead was short-lived though, as the Saints went on an early 7-0 run to build a 9-4 advantage.
 
April Anderson (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer H.S.) scored inside to pull the Gray Wolves within four, 12-8, five minutes in to the game Aquinas answered with another spurt.  A 13-2 run pushed the lead to 15, 25-10, midway through the opening half.
 
An Orsini layup with five minutes to play before halftime pulled Lourdes to within 33-23, and the Gray Wolves were still within 11 with four minutes to go before the break.  Aquinas ended the half on another 13-2 run though to take a 49-27 lead into the locker room.
 
Aquinas turned 11 first half turnovers by Lourdes into 17 points and shot 50% from the floor in the opening half.  Allison Heberlein connected on four triples on her way to 17 points in the opening stanza for the Saints.
 
Orsini led the Gray Wolves with 15 points and eight rebounds while Tilden added 13 points and Hampton chipped in nine more.
 
Heberlein finished with a game-high 19 points, but only had two in the second half, while Clare Conway added 17 points for Aquinas (6-4, 3-2 WHAC).
 
Lourdes grabbed 25 offensive boards in the game, including 20 in the second half which led to 19 second chance points.  The Gray Wolves committed just three second half turnovers as well.  Lourdes finished the game shooting just 31.6% from the floor, including a 27.7% clip in the second half.
 
“We got after the boards like we know how to in the second half, grabbing 20 offensive rebounds,” Gray added.  “Our shooting wasn't great though.  I'm more concerned about the amount of missed layups and free throws we had than the jumpers.  We missed way too many layups tonight.”
 
Lourdes (3-7, 1-4) will return to the court on Saturday afternoon, traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich. to battle the 16^th-ranked Cardinals of Concordia.  Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.