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Lourdes picked up its second straight win on Wednesday evening, defeating Madonna 80-73 at the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
In a game which saw 55 fouls called, 76 free throws attempted, and 43 total turnovers, the Gray Wolves preserved to pull back to the .500 mark in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.
 
"I was really pleased with our team's effort and willingness to compete versus Madonna," head coach Summer Quesenberry said.  "Our team is working harder on applying our philosophy and becoming more competitive for it."
 
Daja Whiteside (Auburn Hills, Mich./Avondale H.S.) and Taylor Geib (Ravenna, Ohio/Ravenna H.S.) both had double-doubles in the win.  Whiteside tallied 20 points and had 10 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end of the floor, while Geib had 14 points and 15 boards, including six offensive caroms.
 
Madonna jumped out to the early lead.  The Crusaders never trailed during the opening 10 minutes, building a seven-point advantage, 11-4, midway through the quarter.  Lourdes battled back with eight straight points of its own spanning the quarter break, tying the contest at 14 after one and taking its first lead of the game on a layup by Samantha Enck (Oregon, Ohio/Clay H.S.) to open the second.  The Gray Wolves would not trail the remainder of the half, and closed the second on a 10-4 run to build a 37-31 lead at intermission.
 
The lead grew to 10, 47-37, on a Jesse Fidler (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold H.S.) basket midway through the third before Madonna mounted a comeback.  A 12-2 run by the Crusaders to close the period knotted the contest at 49 heading into the final stanza.
 
Lourdes took the lead to begin the fourth and increased its advantage to five, 57-52, following a three-pointer from Molea Thompson (Mansfield, Ohio/Madison H.S.) with just over seven minutes remaining.  Madonna answered and took a one-point lead with under five minutes to play before the Gray Wolves scored nine straight points, six of which came from Fidler, to take a 67-59 lead with two minutes remaining.  The game was then settled at the free throw line.
 
Thompson and Fidler both scored 12 points to give Lourdes four players in double figures.  The Gray Wolves shot just 36.8% from the floor and 56.5% (26-for-46) from the free throw line, but held a 52-41 advantage on the boards, including a 26-16 edge on the offensive end.  That led to a 23-12 edge in second chance points.
 
"I was very impressed with our effort on the boards tonight," Quesenberry added.  "I believe rebounds to have been the biggest difference in the game.  I am very excited about the bricks that were laid in our foundation tonight."
 
Michele Hayes led Madonna (4-4, 1-3 WHAC) with 25 points while Becca Sabol added 12 points and 11 rebounds.  The Crusaders were 39.3% from the line and made just 19-of-30 (63.3%) free throws.
 
Lourdes (3-7, 2-2) will take to the road on Saturday afternoon as the Gray Wolves continue Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play in Detroit, Mich.  The Gray Wolves will take on Marygrove with tipoff set for 1 p.m. at the Northwest Activities Center.