Lourdes closed a 19-point fourth quarter deficit to within eight on Wednesday evening, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling 75-62 to Cornerstone inside of Mol Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
"We had a really rough shooting night in the first half," head coach Tandy Bradford said afterwards.  "As a team we need to lock into how hard you have to offset poor shooting with exceptional defense in the conference on the road.  We are fortunate to have a number of players that were able to contribute to building the energy back up in the second and we never gave up.  The second half shows we can make big runs, get stops, and use our depth to back each other up."
 
The Gray Wolves started cold from the floor in the first half, shooting just 25.7% (9-of-35) before trying to make its late comeback.
 
Lourdes scored the game's first basket, only to see the Golden Eagles respond with the next nine points to take the lead for good.  Cornerstone maintained an eight-point advantage after the opening 10 minutes, 19-11, and extended the lead to as many as 18 late in the half before heading into the locker room with a 36-20 edge.
 
As the second half opened, the Gray Wolves battled back to within 11, 39-28, just two-and-a-half minutes into the third period.  Cornerstone responded, pushing the lead back to as many as 17 before taking a 16-point edge into the final stanza.
 
Again, Lourdes responded.  Trailing 62-43 with five minutes to play, the Gray Wolves went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to close within nine, but the Golden Eagles went 9-for-9 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to secure the win.
 
Macie Stringfellow (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) tallied a double-double for Lourdes with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Nadeen Jemaa (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg H.S.) added 13 points off the bench.  Emma Pedroza (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon H.S.) chipped in 10 more points as the Gray Wolves finished the game shooting 37.9% from the floor after shooting better than 50% over the final 20 minutes.
 
Jaxi Long led Cornerstone (4-2, 3-0 WHAC) with 19 points while Madison Fulks added 13 points.  Stephanie Ainsworth finished with 12 points and a game-high 14 boards.
 
Lourdes (2-4, 1-2) remains on the road Saturday afternoon as the Gray Wolves travel to Lima, Ohio to battle the University of Northwestern Ohio.  Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. inside of Racer Gymnasium.