The Gray Wolf women's basketball team played from behind for the majority of the contest, but a late jumper and defensive stand lifted Lourdes to a 60-59 Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference victory over UNOH on Saturday afternoon.
"I'm really proud of our fight today," said head coach
John Kenger following the victory. "This feels nice being able to bounce back from a couple of tough losses and get one her today. We had a lot of selfless play this afternoon. Our girls kept fighting and found a way to get a big victory."
With the victory, the Gray Wolves tie last season's school record of 10 wins in a single season.
Holding on to a 7-6 edge with 6:08 remaining in the first quarter, Lourdes closed the period out on a 6-1 run the push its lead to 13-7.
Sirena Pitts (Orlando, Fla./Ocoee) hit her first shot of the contest, a three-pointer, late in the quarter to cap the run.
UNOH (10-18, 6-12 WHAC) responded in the second period, opening the quarter on a 10-0 run before
Christiana Jefferson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame) hit a jumper to cut the Racer lead to 17-15 with 4:50 left in the first half.
The Racers pushed their lead to 29-21 late in the second period, but the Gray Wolves took advantage of a missed UNOH jumper as
Sara Semler (Toledo, Ohio/Whitmer) found
Jami Hardy (Perrysburg, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch) for a fastbreak layup to cut the lead to 29-23 at the intermission.
The Gray Wolves came out of the break looking to even things back up quickly and used six straight free throws to open the half and knot things at 29-all with 8:40 left in the third period.
Ramiah Henry (Toledo, Ohio/Waite) knocked down four straight free throws during the stretch.
After UNOH regained a 38-33 lead midway through the third period,
Samantha Enck (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) found Semler for a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 38-36, forcing a timeout with 3:24 left in the third quarter.
Trailing 46-39 entering the fourth quarter, Lourdes scored four straight capped by a
Riley Raburn (Horton, Mich./Lumen Christi) three-pointer to open the period and get within 46-43. UNOH continued to answer, but three-pointers from Henry and
Sydney Miller (Huntsville, Ohio/Indian Lake) helped the Gray Wolves stay within 51-49 with 6:50 left in the contest.
The Racers continued to hold a slim lead throughout the fourth period. After UNOH went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe late, Hardy nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to 59-58 with 52.9 seconds left.
A UNOH miscue gave Lourdes the ball with 18.5 seconds left and Jefferson nailed a short jumper in the paint with 4.6 seconds left to give Lourdes its first lead of the contest since the 5:40 mark of the second quarter. The Gray Wolves drew a charge on the defensive end of the floor to seal the victory.
Henry led the way for Lourdes, netting 13 points and adding eight rebounds and five assists. Hardy added 12 points and pulled down five rebounds for the Gray Wolves.
Lourdes finished 20-of-71 (28.2%) from the field, hitting 8-of-37 (21.6%) three-pointers. UNOH hit 24-of-64 (37.5%) shots, including 3-of-12 (25.0%) from three-point range.
The Gray Wolves (10-17, 5-13 WHAC) return to action on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. as they travel to No. 3-ranked Indiana Tech for their final regular season road contest of the season.
