Lourdes led nearly the entire game on Saturday afternoon but Madonna rallied and made two free throws with 13 seconds remaining and defeated the Gray Wolves 69-68 inside the Alliance Catholic Credit Union in Livonia, Mich.
 
"We asked the team to really work together to focus, compete, lock in to what we needed to do, and love playing the game," head coach Tandy Bradford said afterwards.  "They did that.  Madonna hit some big shots and worked hard on the boards.  We had opportunities throughout the game to put it away and just couldn't completely pull away."
 
After a low-scoring opening quarter in which Lourdes led 9-8 after 10 minutes, the Gray Wolves came alive in the second.  A 9-2 run, capped with an Alex Wolfe (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) three-pointer, pushed the advantage to 22-12 with 6:03 to play before intermission.  Lourdes maintained the lead throughout the remainder of the half, taking a 32-25 lead into the locker room.
 
The Gray Wolves held a 45-36 lead with just under five minutes to play in the third before Madonna rallied.  A 13-5 run to close the period pulled the Crusaders to within one heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
Madonna took the lead 55-54 with six minutes to play before Maddie Norton (Temperance, Mich./Bedford H.S.) answered with a three-point play for the Gray Wolves.  The Crusaders responded with six straight points, taking their largest lead of the game, three, with 3:39 left.
 
Addie Conroy (Cleveland, Ohio/Padua Franciscan H.S.) tied the game with a triple moments later and the lead went back-and forth in the final minute.  Madonna tied the game with 1:03 to play before Megan Aho gave the hosts the lead, 69-67, with a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left.  Shallyn Miley (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan H.S.) grabbed an offensive rebound with four seconds left for Lourdes and was fouled.  She made one of two from the stripe.  The Gray Wolves forced a turnover but a last second attempt to win was blocked.
 
Norton led five Gray Wolves in double figures with 14 points while Miley added 13 points and eight rebounds.  Mercedes Wagner (Sherwood, Ohio/Fairview H.S.) chipped in 12 points with Conroy tallying 11 and Wolfe adding 10 more.
 
Lourdes shot 41.7% from the floor for the game, including 44.4% (8-of-18) from three-point range. 
 
Aho led Madonna (2-7, 2-1 WHAC) with 25 points while Sarah Tanderys added 15 points as the Crusaders shot 40% from the floor.
 
Lourdes (3-5, 0-3) returns home to the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center on Tuesday evening as the Gray Wolves host Northwestern Ohio.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.