A 14-5 run to close the opening quarter put Concordia (Mich.) in front for good on Wednesday evening as the Cardinals defeated Lourdes 65-53 inside of Cardinal Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Gray Wolves were outrebounded 47-26, including 24-9 on the offensive end, and made just 2-of-11 free throws on the night while Concordia made 19 shots from the charity stripe.
"We got outworked in rebounding and hustle plays tonight," Lourdes head coach
Tandy Bradford said afterwards. "That won't win us games. We can't wait until the end of the games to go find our fight."
Lourdes led 8-5 midway through the opening period before the Cardinals used their spurt to build a 19-13 lead after the first stanza. Concordia increased its advantage to 13, 28-15, with 6:34 to play before halftime. The Gray Wolves held the Cardinals scoreless for more than four minutes, and climbed back into the game, getting as close as seven before trailing 32-24 at the break.
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Cydne Campbell (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne H.S.) triple to begin the third pulled the Gray Wolves to within five, but Lourdes managed just seven points total in the period and the Cardinals closed on a 11-2 run to take a 15-point lead into the final stanza.
After falling behind by as many as 19, 60-41, Lourdes made a late push, closing the gap to 11 in the final minute, but the Gray Wolves were never able to get their deficit to single digits down the stretch.
Mercedes Wagner (Sherwood, Ohio/Fairview H.S.) was the lone Gray Wolf to finish in double figures, scoring 12 points while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds.
Alex Wolfe (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) came off the bench to add nine more points while Campbell added a career-best eight points.
Alize Tripp led Concordia (16-10, 12-5 WHAC) with 13 points while Taylor Leatherman added 10 more.
Lourdes (10-17, 3-14) will close out the home portion of its 2021-2022 schedule on Saturday afternoon as the Gray Wolves entertain Michigan-Dearborn. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
