Aquinas shot better than 50% from the floor and never trailed on Wednesday evening, defeating Lourdes 88-59 inside the Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
"Today we competed together as a team but just did not finish tough defensive rotations with strong box outs," head coach Summer Quesenberry said afterwards.  "Aquinas was able to capitalize off our mistakes, scoring 20 points off second chance opportunities and 17 more off our turnovers."
 
The Saints connected at a 56.7% clip from the field in the opening 20 minutes and outrebounded Lourdes 47-33 overall on the way to the victory.
 
With the game tied at 10 midway through the opening quarter, Aquinas made back-to-back three-pointers to take the lead for good, and ended the period with a 24-16 lead.  A 16-4 run, which began at the end of the first quarter, allowed the Saints to increase the lead to 16 before the Saints eventually took a 44-30 lead into the locker room.
 
Aquinas started the third quarter with a 13-4 spurt, pushing the lead to 23, and Lourdes was never able to cut its deficit under 20 the rest of the game.
 
LaTyrah Beasley (Toledo, Ohio/Bowsher H.S.) led Lourdes with 16 points and nine rebounds while Sara Semler (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer H.S.) added nine points and three steals.  Christiana Jefferson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) handed out five assists without a turnover for the Gray Wolves.
 
As a team, Lourdes shot just 33.8% from the field and committed 16 turnovers.  The Gray Wolves connected on only 6-of-24 (25%) from three-point range.
 
Michaela Faber led five Aquinas (13-8, 8-4 WHAC) players in double figures in the scoring column.  She tallied 14 points while pulling down 13 rebounds for a double-double.  Katie Theut and Ashley Bunker added 11 points each for the Saints.

"Aquinas played as you would expect a veteran team to compete and our young players have the opportunity to learn and respond when we take on Wilberforce on Saturday," Quesenberry added.
 
Lourdes (7-12, 2-10) steps out of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play for the final time on Saturday afternoon, traveling to Wilberforce, Ohio to battle the Bulldogs of Wilberforce University.  Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. inside Gaston Lewis Gymnasium.