Ohio Christian battled back from a five-point deficit in the final 30 seconds of regulation to force overtime on Tuesday evening before defeating Lourdes 99-90 inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center.
 
Lourdes led by as many as eight with six minutes to play in the fourth quarter, and still led by six with under two minutes to play when the Trailblazers began their rally.  The Gray Wolves were in front by five with 35 seconds to play when Ohio Christian made three three-pointers, the last with 7.1 seconds to play by Emma Koons to tie the game at 85 and force the extra session.  Lourdes went 8-for-8 from the free throw line down the stretch but could not hold off the rally.
 
"We want to play good teams and they are definitely a good team," head coach Tandy Bradford said afterwards.  We need to stay locked in for as long as it takes, and if that means five periods, we need to play the entire time to finish the job and tonight we didn't do that."
 
In the overtime, the Trailblazers scored the first five points and never trailed as Lourdes went just 1-for-11 from the field over the five minutes. 
 
Lourdes took the lead early, building a six-point lead by the end of the opening period following back-to-back three-pointers by Winter Richburg (Toledo, Ohio/Rogers H.S.) and Macie Stringfellow (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.). 
 
After the Trailblazers battled back to tie the game at 24 midway through the second quarter, Lourdes went on a 14-5 run, capped by a three-pointer by Taylor Thomas (Marshallville, Ohio/Chippewa H.S.) to build its largest lead of the game, 38-29, before taking a 40-37 lead into the locker room.
 
Lourdes led the entire third quarter, pushing the advantage to as many as eight, a lead the Gray Wolves would still have heading into the final six minutes of regulation.
 
Thomas led Lourdes with 16 points off the bench, going 5-of-9 from three-point range, while Emma Pedroza (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon H.S.) added 14 points and 13 rebounds.  Nakiya Sigman (Lima, Ohio/Lima Senior H.S.) chipped in 13 points and Halle Barnett (Sylvania, Ohio/Southview H.S.) tallied 12 more.  Stringfellow gave Lourdes five double figure scorers with 11 points.
 
Haley Cox led Ohio Christian (4-1) with 35 points while Ashley Deweese added 22 and Koons finished with 18.
 
Lourdes (2-3) will take eight days off before returning to Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference action on Nov. 29 when the Gray Wolves travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. to battle Cornerstone. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. inside Mol Arena.