Complete PDF Notes

Upcoming in Gray Wolves Basketball: Lourdes returns home to Tam-o-Shanter on Saturday afternoon, where the Gray Wolves will play three of their next four games.  Lourdes will host Cornerstone in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play, looking to move up the conference ledger as league play moves near the halfway point in the schedule.

Head Coach Karen McConnell: In her first season both on the Lourdes bench Karen McConnell has a 4-12 (.250) record.  Overall as a women's collegiate head coach, McConnell has a 284-259 (.523) record in her 21st season.  She is only the second head coach in Lourdes program's history.

Series Notes: Cornerstone has won all four previous meetings in the series between the two schools but is returning to Tam-o-Shanter for the first time since 2012.  Last year the Golden Eagles posted a 63-51 victory over Lourdes in Grand Rapids, Mich. before concluding the regular season with a 67-56 win at Owens Community College.  The only previous meeting held at Tam-o-Shanter resulted in a 72-64 Cornerstone win back on Feb. 1, 2012.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes snapped an eight-game losing streak last Saturday (Jan. 4) with a convincing 66-37 victory over Marygrove.  The Gray Wolves held the Mustangs to just 25% shooting for the game and 13 first half points in the victory.  Tiffany Scott led Lourdes with 16 points while Lauren Tilden added 15 more for Lourdes.  Wednesday (Jan. 8) evening Lourdes had four players score in double figures but came away on the short end of a 73-64 score against Northwestern Ohio in Lima.  Tarynn Hampton led the Gray Wolves with 16 points while Tilden and Scott each added 13 points.

Scouting Cornerstone: The Golden Eagles have won five of their last six games overall following a 70-65 victory at home against Indiana Tech on Wednesday night (Jan. 8).  Katelyn Cousins leads Cornerstone in scoring, averaging 18.4 points per game, a mark that ranks 28th in all of NAIA Division II.  Jill Hendrickson adds 15.1 points and a team-leading 9.9 rebounds per contest.  Her rebounding total ranks 14th in the nation.  As a team Cornerstone is eighth in the nation in rebounding margin at +9.4 per game while ranking 16th averaging 4.0 blocked shots per contest.  The Golden Eagles are holding opponents to just 35.9% shooting on the year.

Playing Defense: Lourdes limited Marygrove to just 37 points in the victory last Saturday afternoon (Jan. 4), the fewest points the Gray Wolves have ever surrendered in a game.  The effort set a new record, bettering the previous mark of 42 set in a 49-42 victory over Michigan-Dearborn on Jan. 26, 2013 at Tam-o-Shanter.  The Gray Wolves held the Mustangs to just 25.0% shooting from the floor in the game as well.

Going the Distance: Lauren Tilden never left the court the entire night on Wednesday, scoring 13 points in the loss at Northwestern Ohio.  The effort marked the second time this season that Tilden played all 40 minutes, and for the year she is averaging 36.8 minutes per contest.  

Matching Numbers from Long Range: Over the last two games Lauren Tilden and Tiffany Scott appear to be playing a game of HORSE.  Both players posted identical 3-for-6 shooting efforts from three-point range in the win against Marygrove before again matching each other on Wednesday with 3-for-8 shooting nights at Northwestern Ohio.

Blocking Shots: Tiffany Scott currently ranks 40th in the nation averaging 1.3 blocked shots per game after five rejections in her last two games.  She had a pair of rejections against Marygrove and three more at Northwestern Ohio, giving her at least two blocks in seven games this year, including a season-high four swats against Lawrence Tech.

Making Free Throws: Lourdes, which has struggled from the free throw line all season, had its best shooting night of the season from the charity stripe on Wednesday at Northwestern Ohio.  The Gray Wolves connected on 80% of its attempts, making 20-of-25, bettering their previous best shooting night of 75% (12-of-16) against Concordia (Mich.) back in early December.

Crashing the Glass: Tarynn Hampton ranks second in all of NAIA Division II averaging 4.9 offensive rebounds per game.  Hampton ranks ninth overall in total rebounding, averaging 10.4 rebounds per night.  Hampton has had at least six rebounds in every game this year, and has seven double figure rebound efforts, including a season-high 25 against Michigan-Dearborn.  As a team Lourdes ranks sixth in the nation pulling down 16.5 offensive rebounds per contest, and its +5.1 rebounding margin is 19th best in the country.

Lourdes Tabbed 10th in Preseason Poll: The Gray Wolves were selected to finish in 10th place in the WHAC this season in the preseason poll conducted of the league's head coaches.  Lourdes was picked just ahead of Michigan-Dearborn, and just behind Lawrence Tech.  Davenport was tabbed as the conference's preseason favorite for 2013-2014 after winning the conference title seven straight seasons.

Captains Named: Lourdes has two captains on the roster this season.  Serving in the leadership role for 2013-2014 are Tiffani Blackman and Tiffany Scott.  Blackman is a two-time team captain while Scott is in her first season as a team captain.

This and That: Courtney Slepko came off of the bench to score eight points against Northwestern Ohio, marking the sixth time in 16 games this year she has tallied eight or more points ... Lourdes has not lost a game this season when shooting a better percentage from the floor than its opponents ... Tiffani Blackman had her seventh double-figure rebounding game of the year with 10 boards against Marygrove.