The Lourdes women's basketball team began Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon as it defeated Madonna 74-52 at the Activities Center.
 
"This was a great way to open conference play," said head coach John Kenger following the victory. "We shared the ball really well today and played unselfish basketball."
 
Madonna (0-6, 0-2 WHAC) scored the first four points of the contest before Christiana Jefferson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame) beat the shot clock with a jumper in the paint and Sydney Miller (Huntsville, Ohio/Indian Lake) hit a corner three pointer to give Lourdes its first lead of the contest. From there a back-and-forth battle saw the first quarter end in a 12-12 tie.
 
After the two teams exchanged buckets to open the second quarter and move to a 16-16 tie, Lourdes used a 12-3 run to take a 28-19 lead. The Crusaders climb back in and a buzzer-beating three pointer help Madonna pull within 29-24 at the half.
 
Holding on to a 41-34 lead in the third quarter, Miller drilled a three pointer that sparked a 15-3 run capped off by a layup from Hunter Kershaw (Columbus, Ohio/Westland) to push the Gray Wolf lead to 56-37 through three quarters of play.
 
Lourdes remained in the drivers' seat for the remainder of the contest and saw its lead expand to as many as 25 points as it went on to claim the 74-52 victory.
 
The Gray Wolves finished 30-of-58 (51.7%) from the field, while the host Crusaders were 18-of-53 (34.0%) from the field. Lourdes edged Madonna in rebounds by a 40-33 margin, including 15 offensive rebounds.
 
The Gray Wolves (3-3, 1-0) will return to action and continue WHAC play on Tuesday evening as they host Rochester (Mich.) at the Russell J. Ebeid Center with a 6 p.m. tipoff.