Complete PDF Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Basketball: Lourdes nears the end of the first half of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play this week with a pair of games.  The Gray Wolves host Northwestern Ohio on Wednesday evening before making the short trip north to Siena Heights for a Saturday night affair.

Head Coach Karen McConnell: In her second season on the Lourdes bench Karen McConnell has an 18-56 (.243) record.  Overall as a women's collegiate head coach, McConnell has a 298-303 (.496) record in her 22nd season.  She is only the second head coach in Lourdes program's history.

Series Notes: Northwestern Ohio is 8-0 all-time against Lourdes in a series that dates back to Jan. 18, 2012.  The Racers swept both meetings last season, scoring a 70-59 victory at Tam-o-Shanter before downing the Gray Wolves 71-45 in the season finale in Lima, Ohio.  Northwestern Ohio has won all four previous meetings at Tam-o-Shanter.  Siena Heights is 8-0 all-time against Lourdes in a series that dates back to Dec. 3, 2011.  The Saints swept both meetings last year, defeating Lourdes 86-63 at Tam-o-Shanter before posting a 73-45 win over the Gray Wolves in Adrian, Mich.  Siena Heights has won all four previous meetings in Adrian.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Madonna handed Lourdes its third straight defeat on Saturday afternoon, as the Crusaders scored a 75-56 victory over the Gray Wolves at Tam-o-Shanter.  Niki Meyer scored 23 points while Jesse Fidler and Constance Conner each added 12 points in the setback for Lourdes.

Scouting Northwestern Ohio: The Racers have dropped three of their last four games following a 60-49 setback to Siena Heights at home on Saturday afternoon.  Becca Harshman is the only player for Northwestern Ohio averaging in double figures, scoring 10.6 points per game.  Harshman is also the team leader grabbing 5.9 rebounds per contest.  As a team the Racers rank 13th in NAIA Division II tallying 12.2 steals per game and are 19th with a +3.63 turnover margin.

Scouting Siena Heights: The Saints enter the week having won five straight games following a 60-49 victory on the road at Northwestern Ohio on Saturday.  Siena Heights hosts Madonna on Wednesday before Lourdes visits.  April Watson leads the Saints averaging 13.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.  Watson ranks 20th in the country shooting 51.6% from the floor.  Jaaliyah Arrington adds 10.1 points per game.  Siena Heights leads the country allowing opponents to shoot just 23.6% from three-point range and 31.3% overall from the floor.  The Saints are second nationally allowing just 52.5 points per contest.

Meyer Tallies Career High: Niki Meyer poured in a career-high 23 points last Saturday afternoon against Madonna, making four of nine attempts from three-point range.  The sophomore has now recorded career highs in back-to-back efforts after scoring 19 points, her previous best, at Cincinnati Christian just before Christmas.  On the season Meyer is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.8 points per night.

McConnell Nearing 300 Career Wins:  Head coach Karen McConnell is just two wins shy of 300 for her career, which spans 22 seasons.  The third year head coach has won 18 of her games while on the bench at Lourdes.

Keys to Success: Lourdes has found out thus far this season that it needs to have a halftime lead and outrebound opponents in order to win games.  The Gray Wolves are 4-1 when leading at the break and 0-10 when tied or trailing at intermission.  Lourdes is also 0-8 when being outrebounded by the opposition on the year.

Consistently in Double Figures: With her 12 points against Madonna, Jesse Fidler has now tallied double figures in 13 of her 15 contests this year.  The sophomore has scored 10 or more points in 11 of her last 12 games as well, and leads the Gray Wolves averaging 13.3 points per game on the season.

Conner Has Career High: Constance Conner posted a career high with 12 points on Saturday afternoon in the setback to Madonna.  Conner connected on 6-of-11 shots from the floor, and also grabbed six rebounds, her second highest total of the year.  The fifth-year senior had tallied double figures just once previously in her career, earlier this season against Michigan-Dearborn.

Among the Nation's Leaders: Lourdes has limited its opponents to 62.5 points per game this season, a mark that ranks 38th in NAIA Division II.  Lourdes also ranks 32nd nationally as a team averaging 10.33 steals per contest.

Fidler Among the National Leaders Individually: Jesse Fidler ranks eighth in NAIA individually with 42 steals on the season and her 2.8 thefts per night rank 16th in NAIA Division II.  Fidler also ranks 12th in the country in field goal percentage, connecting at a 56.1% clip.  In addition, the sophomore is 25th nationally grabbing 3.47 offensive rebounds per contest.

Captains Named: Lourdes has two sophomore captains on the roster this season.  Serving in the leadership role for 2015-2016 are Jesse Fidler and Niki Meyer.  The duo both had successful freshmen campaigns with the Gray Wolves.

This and That: Samantha Enck made her first collegiate start on Saturday against Madonna ... Niki Meyer had her streak of 17 consecutive free throws made snapped in the first quarter against Madonna ... Jesse Fidler is 27 points shy of 500 for her career ... Lourdes had 15 assists and just 14 turnovers against Madonna, just the fourth time this year the Gray Wolves had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.