Lourdes trailed by just two points at halftime on Wednesday evening, but Cincinnati Christian tallied 51 points over the final two quarters to defeat the Gray Wolves 91-70 at Presidents Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio.
 
The Eagles made 32-of-44 (72.7%) free throws on the evening, and outrebounded Lourdes 64-38, on the way to the home victory.
 
"Our team didn't come out and play Lourdes basketball," head coach Summer Quesenberry said afterwards.  "We allowed too many easy baskets and were unable to make routine defensive stops.  We work daily on our closeouts, applying a solid help side defensive front, and boxing out.  To get outrebounded 64-38 shows that our effort was lacking and our defensive focus was stymied and stagnant.  We are a much better team than what we chose to display tonight."
 
A 6-0 run to close the opening period put Lourdes in front 23-18 after 10 minutes of play after trailing by as many as four early on.  The Gray Wolf lead grew to seven, 34-27, midway through the second quarter after a three-pointer by Mariah DuPree (Ottawa Lake, Mich./Whiteford H.S.).  The Eagles responded with 10 straight points over a four-minute span to retake the lead, eventually taking a 40-38 lead into the locker room.
 
Cincinnati Christian went on an 8-0 run early in the third quarter to push the lead to double figures, building a 14-point advantage after 30 minutes.  The Eagles added a 12-2 spurt late in the fourth period to put the game out of reach.
 
Jesse Fidler (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold H.S.) led Lourdes with 13 points while Kalena Harris (Toledo, Ohio/Maumee H.S.) added 12 more.  DuPree chipped in 10 points on the night for a Gray Wolf team that shot just 33.3% from the floor.
 
Brittany Wells led five Cincinnati Christian (5-9) players in double figures, scoring 25 points, while Kaitlyn Rawls added a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
 
Lourdes (4-10) will return home to the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center for its final two games before the holidays, beginning on Saturday afternoon when the Gray Wolves welcome seventh-ranked Davenport to town.  Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.