Lourdes opened up Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play on Wednesday evening, dropping a 71-55 decision to Siena Heights inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
"This is a disappointing way to start conference play," head coach Tandy Bradford said afterwards.  "Our defense didn't stay consistent to our scout and that has to happen when our shots don't fall early.  They did a great job executing their game plan getting to the rim and to rebounds."
 
The Saints started quickly, scoring 10 straight points while holding Lourdes without a field goal for the first five minutes while building a 10-1 advantage.  The lead grew to 15, 22-7, by the end of the opening stanza as the Gray Wolves made just 3-of-17 shots in the quarter.
 
Trailing by 16 early in the second, Lourdes scored eight straight points to cut the deficit in half.  The Gray Wolves continued to climb back, pulling within four, 27-23, in the final seconds of the half before the Saints made a three-pointer at the buzzer.
 
Siena Heights pushed the lead back to 12 midway through the third before Lourdes made another run.  Nine straight points, capped by a triple from Nakiya Sigman (Lima, Ohio/Lima Senior H.S.) made it a 44-41 lead before the Saints took a seven-point lead into the final quarter.
 
An 8-2 run by the visitors to begin the fourth pushed the lead to double figures once again as Lourdes was unable to make another late rally.
 
Emma Pedroza (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon H.S.) led Lourdes with 14 points and seven rebounds while Sigman added 12 points.  Winter Richburg (Toledo, Ohio/Rogers H.S.) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while Macie Stringfellow (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) had seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
 
Jillian Gelso led Siena Heights (1-2, 1-1 WHAC) with 22 points while Kayla Hinton had a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards.
 
"We will stay focused on our team and adjustments in being prepared for the turnaround to Dearborn on Saturday," Bradford added.  "We have full belief in the direction our team is headed for the season, and we saw big pieces of it tonight with every comeback run we made.  We just have to keep fighting through those runs to get ahead in the score column."
 
Lourdes (1-2, 0-1) takes to the road on Saturday afternoon as the Gray Wolves head to Dearborn, Mich. to face the University of Michigan-Dearborn.  Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. inside of UMD Fieldhouse.