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Lourdes jumped out to a 15-point halftime lead on Saturday afternoon and withstood a furious second half rally from Lawrence Tech to register a 74-40 victory at Tam-o-Shanter and snap a six-game losing skid in the process.
 
Molea Thompson (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison H.S.) tallied a double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds off of the bench to pace four Gray Wolf players in double figures in the scoring column.  Lauren Tilden (Ravenna, Ohio/Ravenna H.S.) added 17 points for Lourdes in the win.
 
"What a good win for us," head coach Karen McConnell said afterwards.  "Our team is finally starting to buy into our defense.  We're working harder again and working for each other which is a big key."
 
An early 11-2 run by the Gray Wolves put Lourdes on top 21-10 less than eight minutes into the contest.  The Blue Devils battled back, pulling to within four, 21-17, before Lourdes extended its lead once again.  With the margin at juts ix, 33-27, with 4:34 to play before halftime, the Gray Wolves scored 10 unanswered points to build a 17-point lead, and eventually took a 44-29 advantage into the locker room.
 
Lourdes shot 45.2% from the floor in the opening half and had three players in double figures- Tilden, Thompson, and Emily Orsini (Akron, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban H.S.), who drained three three-pointers on her way to a team-high 12 points, which is what she finished the day with.
 
"We came out strong today and in the end we needed all of it," McConnell added.
 
Leading by 17 with 17:26 to play, the Gray Wolves allowed Lawrence Tech to go on a 16-2 run, pulling to within three, 52-49, with 11:39 remaining.  Tilden answered with a three and again Lourdes pushed the lead back to nine.  Three more times in the second half the Blue Devils would close to within three, and each time Lourdes would answer.  The final time came with eight seconds remaining, but Jesse Fidler (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold H.S.) split two free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining for the final margin.
 
Fidler was the fourth Gray Wolf to finish in double figures, scoring 12 points on the day.  Lourdes made nine three-pointers, shooting 45.0% from beyond the arc.
 
Hayley Walkowski led Lawrence Tech (10-10, 8-8 WHAC) with 20 points off of the bench while Hali Butler added 15 points and eight rebounds.  The Blue Devils outrebounded Lourdes 48-35, including 20-12 on the offensive end.
 
"We need to work on our rebounding," McConnell concluded.  "That could have rally come back to haunt us tonight."
 
Lourdes (7-17, 3-13) will take to the road on Wednesday evening as the Gray Wolves travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to battle Concordia (Mich.).  Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Cardinal Fieldhouse.