Alex Wolfe (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) scored inside with one second remaining to give Lourdes its first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference victory of the season, 64-63, over the University of Michigan-Dearborn inside of the Allied Catholic Credit Union Arena in Livonia, Mich.
"I am really proud that every time we challenged the ladies defensively or rebounding they did what was needed," head coach
Tandy Bradford said afterwards. "They really came together as a team today."
Lourdes trailed by five with under two minutes to play when
Logan Ingram (Mount Pleasant, Mich./Mount Pleasant H.S.) drained her fifth three-pointer of the game at the 1:30 mark.
Mercedes Wagner (Sherwood, Ohio/Fairview H.S.) registered a steal in the final minute and was fouled. The sophomore split a pair, making it a 61-60 game. An offensive foul on the Wolverines then gave Lourdes the ball back with 34 ticks remaining on the clock.
Wagner scored inside to put Lourdes in front before Michigan-Dearborn responded. Cydney Williams grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with four seconds to play, as the Wolverines went back in front. A Gray Wolf timeout advanced the ball to the front court and the Wolverines fouled Lourdes on the inbounds, giving the Gray Wolves the ball under the basket with two seconds remaining. Wolfe came off a screen, received the pass from
Maddie Norton (Temperance, Mich./Bedford H.S.) down low, and scored with one tick remaining to give the Gray Wolves the victory.
Michigan-Dearborn took the lead early, 14-6, late in the first quarter and lead nearly the entire opening half before an Ingram three with 2:20 to play before halftime put the Gray Wolves in front 27-25 for the first time on the afternoon. The Wolverines responded with the final four points of the stanza though to take a two-point advantage into the locker room.
The Wolverines scored the first 10 points out of intermission to build their largest lead of the day before carrying a six-point edge to the final period. Back-to-back triples early in the fourth by Ingram and Norton tied the game at 49 only for Lourdes to see Michigan-Dearborn regain the lead on the next possession, before building the late advantage which force the Gray Wolves to find the late game heroics.
After committing 15 first half turnovers, Lourdes committed just one in the second half to offset 36.5% shooting from the floor. The Gray Wolves did connect at a 40% (12-of-30) clip from three-point range though.
Ingram had five triples and led Lourdes with 17 points while sharing team-high honors grabbing eight rebounds.
Shae Pedroza (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon H.S.) added 12 points, eight boards, and five assists while Wagner tallied 10 points.
Maya Barakat led Michigan-Dearborn (3-13, 1-7 WHAC) with 15 points and 12 rebounds while Ro'Zhane Wells added 13 points. The Wolverines shot 31.9% from the field but outrebounded Lourdes 54-41, including 18-6 on the offensive end.
Lourdes (7-10, 1-7) heads home for its next five games beginning on Wednesday evening as the Gray Wolves host Concordia (Mich.). Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.