SYLVANIA, Ohio – The Lourdes women's basketball team (22-7, 16-5 in WHAC) beat the Northwestern Ohio Racers (18-11, 12-11 in WHAC), 71 to 62 in the first round of the WHAC Tournament.

The Gray Wolves have successfully move onto the WHAC Tournament semifinals and will play second-seeded Rochester Christian on the road on Friday, Feb. 27 at a time to be determined. Despite being one spot below them in the final standings, Lourdes swept the Warriors this season.

Elsewhere in the WHAC, fifth-seeded Siena Heights upset Aquinas and will take on top-ranked Indiana Tech in the other semifinal matchup. Lourdes is 5-3 against the remaining three teams in the tournament.

1^st Quarter
Lourdes outscored UNOH 15 to 10 in the first quarter, playing ferocious defense and limiting the Racers to 36.4% shooting from the field. Senior guard Emma Pedroza led the scoring for Lourdes with seven points in the frame. Pedroza finished the game with 13 points and five assists.

2^nd Quarter
Lourdes ramped up the offense in the second quarter with 19 points, heading into the halftime break leading 34 to 25. Senior forward Camryn Ivy had two blocks and five points in the quarter.

Ivy ended the game with a career-high four blocks. She was also second on the team with 14 points, consistently scoring mid-range turnaround jump shots from the top of the paint. Ivy also owned her matchup with Racers' center Lori Huffman, holding her to zero points on the night. Ivy talked about her career night and the team's impressive win postgame.

"We had such a bad game against them last week so we wanted to come out and capitalize on everything that we didn't do last time," Ivy said. "I had zero blocks last time we played them so I wanted to make sure today that didn't happen again."

3^rd Quarter
The Gray Wolves extended their lead to double digits, leading 51 to 40 after the third quarter. With Kaylona Butler, Oliwia Dyja, and Tamyah Worthy all having three fouls, the Gray Wolves bench had to step up.

Junior guard Ashley Zawisza ran an impressive offense with a career-high five assists. Freshman forward Keylasia Harris followed suit with a career-high six assists of her own. Lourdes as a team had 23 assists in the game, the most they've had in any game all season except for the blowout win over Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods. Harris talked postgame about the bench's ability to spread the basketball around.

"We've been emphasizing really playing as a team, especially when we're playing in a tough tournament," Harris said. "We've been working on moving the ball and communicating with each other. I think us continuing to play as a team will be the key to us being able to win the tournament."

4^th Quarter
Lourdes closed the game on a high note, shooting 50% from the field and holding onto a comfortable nine-point victory. Junior guard Kaylona Butler sealed the deal with 10 fourth-quarter points. She finished the game leading the team with 22 points. Butler talked postgame about her team's resilience and execution to get the win.

"The last game we played them we came up a little short, so we knew we had to have a good turnaround this game," Butler said. "The win was really about tenacity and defense. Initially, us getting stops really turned into our offense being able to share the ball, get to the rim, and finish."

Stats
Lourdes outrebounded UNOH 43 to 28. The offensive rebounding, in particular, was a huge component in the win with multiple possessions including four or more offensive boards. Lourdes finished the game with 19 offensive boards, the second most in a game all season.

Coach Bradford's Postgame Comments
"I'm really happy on how we executed our defensive gameplan with intent tonight," Coach Bradford said. "I think we handled the adversity well and were really intentional about our defense. In our conference, anybody can win, so we have to stay locked in and focused."

Next Up
Lourdes will take on Rochester Christian on the road on Friday in the WHAC Tournament semifinals. The time hasn't been announced yet.