Lourdes registered back-to-back Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference victories for the first time this season after defeating Madonna 76-67 on Saturday afternoon inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"It was great to see the girls stay focused and locked in on winning and playing together," head coach Tandy Bradford said afterwards.  "I thought we did a really good job of handling the pressure with the lead and doing our jobs."
 
The Gray Wolves started fast and never trailed in the contest, making 11-of-18 (61.1%) shots in the opening quarter.  An 11-2 run midway through the stanza propelled Lourdes to a 25-12 advantage after 10 minutes.  The lead grew to 15 early in the second before Madonna answered with 10 straight points.  The Crusaders pulled to within two late in the period before the teams headed into the locker room with Lourdes in front 34-31.
 
Lourdes pushed the lead back to seven, 49-42, in the third before six consecutive points allowed Madonna to make it a one-point game, the closest the Crusaders would get the rest of the way.  The Gray Wolves closed the period with the final five points before opening the fourth with seven more to push the lead back to double figures, 61-48.
 
The lead extended back to 14 after a Winter Richburg (Toledo, Ohio/Rogers H.S.) triple at the 6:30 mark before Madonna made one final spurt.  A 12-2 burst cut the advantage to four with 3:39 to play before Lourdes scored the next eight points to secure the victory.
 
Mercedes Wagner (Sherwood, Ohio/Fairview H.S.) led Lourdes with 16 points and Logan Ingram (Mount Pleasant, Mich./Mount Pleasant H.S.) added 14 more while handing out six assists.  Nadeen Jemaa (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) and Shallyn Miley (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan H.S.) both finished in double figures as well, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively.
 
Lourdes shot 38.5% from the field and forced 20 turnovers on the defensive end.
 
April Hudelson led Madonna (5-16, 4-8 WHAC) with 18 points while Megan Aho added 16 more.
 
Lourdes (9-15, 3-12) closes out its homestand on Wednesday evening as the Gray Wolves entertain 17^th-ranked Indiana Tech.  Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. inside the Ebeid Rec Center on National Women in Sports Day.