LIMA, Ohio – The Lourdes women's basketball team (20-7, 16-5 in WHAC) lost 75 to 83 against Northwestern Ohio (17-10, 11-10 in WHAC) on Wednesday evening; splitting the season series between the regional rivals.

The three-way tie for second place in the conference has started to separate with one regular season game remaining. Aquinas' eight-game winning streak ended with a home loss to Cornerstone, pushing the Saints back currently to the No. 4 seed. Lourdes' loss to UNOH places the Gray Wolves as the current No. 3 seed. Rochester Christian was the only team of the three to win on Wednesday, defeating Lawrence Tech by double digits, improving their position in the WHAC to the No. 2 seed.

Lourdes could still get the second seed in the WHAC tournament with a victory over Siena Heights on Saturday IF Rochester Christian falls to Madonna. Either way, Lourdes could end up rematching Northwestern Ohio in the first round of the conference tournament as the Racers will slot in somewhere between the No. 5 and No. 8 seeds.

1^st Quarter
The first five minutes of the game set the tone for the Racers as UNOH went on a 13-2 run against the Gray Wolves. Racers freshman Brooke Asher led all players in the quarter with six points and led all players in the game with 25 total points.

The two teams traded seven points apiece to end the first frame with a 20-9 UNOH lead. Senior forward Camryn Ivy led Lourdes in the quarter with four points and four rebounds. She didn't have a block in the game, leaving her tied with Tiffany Scott and Mercedes Wagner for the Lourdes single-season record.

2^nd Quarter
The second quarter pushed the UNOH lead to 20 with the Racers biggest offensive output of the night. Northwestern Ohio scored 27 points in the quarter on 58.3% shooting from three-point range, leading Lourdes 47 to 27 at the half.

Junior guard Kaylona Butler had a decent quarter, leading Lourdes with five points. Butler had 17 points total for the game, good for second-most on the team. She also had a team-high four steals on defense.

3^rd Quarter
UNOH extended their lead to a game-high 26 points after an 11-5 run to start the quarter made it 58 to 32. However, junior guard Ashley Zawisza came off the bench for Lourdes and scored seven points to cut the lead down to 19 by the end of the quarter.

The Lourdes defense played incredible in the third, holding UNOH to under 30% shooting from the field after they shot over 50% in the first half. Senior forward Tamyah Worthy had another steal and a pair of rebounds in the quarter. Butler and Pedroza also each had a steal in the quarter.

Worthy ended the game with 11 boards, her fourth double-digit rebound game in the last eight matchups and sixth of the season. She is now averaging 7.0 rebounds per game, by far the highest mark of her career. She's also just 47 rebounds away from reaching the 500 career rebound milestone. Worthy also became the first Gray Wolves player ever to record 80 steals in a single season, after passing the milestone in the third quarter of Wednesday night's game. She's 19 behind teammate Emma Pedroza for the most career steals in program history.

4^th Quarter
While Pedroza did have three steals on the night, it was her fourth-quarter offense that almost completed an improbable Gray Wolves comeback. The senior guard scored 14 points in the last 10 minutes, including four three-pointers. Pedroza led the team with 21 points in the game and orchestrated a 34-point fourth quarter from the point guard position. The Gray Wolves scored 50 points total in the second half and got the once 26-point Racers lead all the way down to three points with a minute remaining.

However, a huge three-pointer with 45 seconds left by UNOH's Sanaiiya Gray ended the Lourdes comeback as the Racers eventually iced the eight-point win with a few free throws.

Stats
UNOH outshot Lourdes by 10% from the field and 6% from the free throw line. They also outrebounded Lourdes by two. However, Lourdes massively won the turnover battle by +13, forcing six more steals than the Racers. Lourdes also shot well from beyond the arc, going 10-for-30. The biggest difference in the game though was UNOH's ability to shoot 59.3% (16-for-27) from the behind the three-point line.

Coach Bradford's Postgame Comments
"We came out too flat and not defending to our standards," Coach Bradford said. "We also weren't converting on the offensive boards. To battle back into the game in the second half and have a chance to win is who we are as a program. The fans were amazing at giving the team energy and drive to stay in their winning mindset. We just jumped on it too late and UNOH executed their game plan well tonight."

Next Up
The final women's basketball regular season game in the Ebeid Rec Center will take place at 1pm on Saturday against Siena Heights. The seniors will be honored before the game takes place. The matchup will feature a combined four of the top five scorers in the conference with two on each squad.