The Lourdes University women's basketball team saw its 2015-2016 season come to a close on Saturday evening as the Gray Wolves dropped a 65-50 decision to Siena Heights at Owens Community College.
 
Playing short-handed due to numerous injuries, the Gray Wolves bench accounted for 38 of the team's 50 points on the evening, with senior Constance Conner (Cleveland, Ohio/Brush H.S.) leading the way with 16 points.  Freshmen Andrea Hodge (Westerville, Ohio/Central H.S.) and Payton Ramey (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas H.S.) added 12 and 10 points respectively, with Ramey's total marking a career high.
 
"I am proud of the team we became as the season went along," head coach Karen McConnell said after the game.  "We began working for one another.  We had lots of adversity this season, but we kept on fighting."
 
Lourdes took an early 11-8 lead midway through the opening period as Mariah DuPree's (Ottawa Lake, Mich./Whiteford H.S.) three-pointer capped a 9-2 run.  The Saints answered though, scoring 12 of the next 15 points to take a six-point advantage before finally ending the quarter with a 20-16 lead.
 
The Gray Wolves still trailed by six with 7:05 to play before intermission before a long range barrage put Lourdes in front again.  Two triples by Ramey sandwiched around a three from Conner gave Lourdes a 27-24 advantage.  Siena Heights again went on a run before the end of the half, scoring the final six points to retake a 32-29 lead at the break.
 
"I thought our ladies came out to battle and compete," McConnell added.  They have one of the top defenses in the country but we were able to hang in there.  Our lack of depth ultimately hurt us in the second half."
 
Siena Heights scored the first seven points of the third period to increase the lead to 10, and Lourdes was never able to get closer that six the rest of the way.  The Gray Wolves trailed by 11, 48-37, heading into the final 10 minutes.  The Saints maintained a double digit advantage for all but 62 seconds in the final stanza to close out the campaign.
 
Lourdes (8-21, 5-17 WHAC) finished the game shooting 38.8% from the floor, but committed 16 turnovers which led to 22 Saints' points.
 
Lauren Wirth led Siena Heights (19-11, 13-9) with 16 points while Willow Cohn came off of the bench to score 12 points for the Saints, which shot 48.3% from the field on the night.
 
The Saints finished the game with a 32-30 edge on the glass, but Jesse Fidler (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold H.S.) led all players with 10 boards for the Gray Wolves.
 
In addition to Conner, Charee Jones (Cleveland, Ohio/John Hay H.S.) also saw her career come to a close on Saturday.  The pair was honored prior to tip-off.