The Lourdes women's basketball team made a valiant effort late in the contest, but came up just short as Concordia edged the Gray Wolves 68-64 on Wednesday evening.
 
Lourdes found itself playing from behind early as Concordia (7-21, 5-13 WHAC) jumped out to a 9-3 lead, forcing a Gray Wolf timeout with 6:17 left in the first quarter.
 
After Concordia pushed the lead to as many as 18-8, Lourdes closed the quarter on a 9-2 run capped off by a Sara Semler (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer) three-pointer to help the Gray Wolves get within 20-17 after one period.
 
Lourdes grabbed its first lead of the evening after LaTyrah Beasley (Toledo, Ohio/Bowsher) and Ramiah Henry (Toledo, Ohio/Waite) scored the opening two buckets of the second quarter, giving the Gray Wolves a 21-20 lead.
 
With the contest tied at 23-all, Jami Hardy (Perrysburg, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch) nailed a three-pointer followed by a Beasley jumper to give Lourdes a 28-23 lead with 5:30 left in the half.
 
Lourdes would not cede the lead for the remainder of the half, taking a 34-29 advantage into the intermission.
 
The third quarter got off to a slow start, but Concordia was able to take a 41-38 lead following a three-pointer with 2:20 left in the period.
 
From there, the Gray Wolves used a 6-0 run to take a 44-41 lead, but a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the Cardinals knotted the game at 44-all after three quarters.
 
After Christiana Jefferson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame) hit a pair of free throws to get Lourdes within 57-56 in the fourth quarter, Concordia used an 8-0 run to push its lead to 65-56 with 2:22 left in the contest.
 
Trailing 67-58 late, Semler sunk a three-pointer to give Lourdes life as the Gray Wolves got within 67-51. With 13.8 seconds left on the clock Beasley completed an and-one play, helping Lourdes cut the gap to 67-64.
 
From there, the Cardinals would hit a free throw and seal the 68-64 victory.
 
Beasley paced Lourdes offensively with 15 points. Sydney Miller (Huntsville, Ohio/Indian Lake) tallied 10 points, while Hardy added nine points and nine rebounds.
 
The Gray Wolves finished 25-of-65 (38.5%) from the floor, including 7-of-28 (25.0%) from three-point range. The Cardinals hit 24-of-66 (36.4%) shots from the floor, while going 6-of-15 (40.0%) from beyond the arc.
 
Lourdes (9-17, 4-13 WHAC) returns to the court on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. when they host Northwestern Ohio inside the Ebeid Recreational Center.