Cornerstone shot 55% from the floor on Wednesday evening on the way to defeating Lourdes 80-50 at Mol Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The Golden Eagles limited the Gray Wolves to just 30% shooting on the evening and forced 18 Lourdes turnovers while holding a 44-18 advantage scoring in the paint.
"I'm really disappointed in our team's effort tonight," head coach
Summer Quesenberry said afterwards. "We played flat and allowed Cornerstone to score 16 points more than their season average."
Lourdes never led in the contest and Cornerstone seized control of the contest with a 10-0 run over a nearly five-minute span in the opening quarter, which allowed the hosts to build an 18-8 lead after 10 minutes. The Golden Eagles shot 57% from the floor in the second, and pushed their lead to as many as 18 in the second period before taking a 38-22 lead into the locker room.
After playing Cornerstone nearly even in the third, the Gray Wolves surrendered the first 14 points of the final period as the Golden Eagles made 12-of-16 shots from the floor in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
Mariah DuPree (Ottawa Lake, Mich./Whiteford H.S.) and
Payton Ramey (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas H.S.) led Lourdes with 12 points each, with Ramey's effort producing a career high for the sophomore.
Jesse Fidler (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold H.S.) added 10 points.
Lourdes shot just 30% from the floor, including 5-of-23 (21.7%) from three-point range, and was outrebounded 46-39 in the contest.
Jesse Sheridan led Cornerstone (12-13, 9-8 WHAC) with 15 points while Shaina DenBesten added 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting off of the bench.
"We didn't play effective defense and allowed Cornerstone to travel to the free throw line 25 times," Quesenberry added. "Our program places an emphasis on controlling the controllable aspects of the game through our work ethic and execution. Unfortunately we didn't play with the mindset of a team hungry for a conference win."
Lourdes (6-19, 4-13) will close out its three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon, as the Gray Wolves return to Grand Rapids to face sixth-ranked Davenport. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at the DU Student Center.
