Lourdes Women See Season End with Loss to Cornerstone - WICU12/WSEE Erie, PA News, Sports, Weather and Events

Lourdes Women See Season End with Loss to Cornerstone

PERRYSBURG - Lourdes women's basketball team wrapped up the 2012-2013 season on Saturday evening suffering a 67-56 loss to Cornerstone at the Student Health & Activities Center on the campus of Owens Community College in Perrysburg, Ohio.

The Gray Wolves cut a 20-point second half deficit down to five but ran out of time to complete the comeback on Senior Night.

"I think we definitely improved as the season went along and especially over last season," head coach Zareth Gray said after the game.  "We understood the game a lot better as we went along.  With all of the experience we gained this year I expect us to come back next year and take what we have learned with us."

Tiffany Scott (Ottawa Lake, Mich./Sylvania Southview H.S.) led the Gray Wolves with 12 points while Lauren Tilden (Ravenna, Ohio/Ravenna H.S.) came off the bench with three three-pointers on her way to finishing with 11 points.  Tarynn Hampton (Saint Louis, Mo./Alton H.S.) and Ty Ali (Chicago, Ill./Rich South H.S.) had 10 points each while Hampton pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.  Ali, the team's lone senior, handed out five assists.

"Having Ty on the court this season was key for us," Gray added.  "She learned throughout the season what I was looking for from her."

A pair of early runs by Cornerstone, one of 8-0 and another of 7-0, allowed the Golden Eagles to forge a 15-6 lead 11 minutes into the contest.  Still trailing by eight with less than three minutes to play, Lourdes closed the half on a 7-2 spurt, capped with a jumper by Ali, to close within three, 27-24 at the break.

Cornerstone scored the first 11 points out of the locker room as part of a 25-8 run over the first 10 minutes of the second half to build a 20-point advantage, 52-32.  Scott then hit a pair of threes as part of four consecutive by the Gray Wolves in a 3:30 span to cut the deficit to eight, 52-44, at the seven minute mark.

The Golden Eagles pushed the lead back to 12 before one last run by Lourdes cut the deficit to five. Hampton scored back-to-back baskets and Courtney Slepko (Cleveland, Ohio/Normandy H.S.) drained a triple to make it 56-51 with 3:30 to play.  Cornerstone made 7-of-8 free throws in the final 2:20 to hold off the Gray Wolves for the win.

"We just made some critical mistakes down the stretch," Gray concluded.  "We need to make better decisions with the ball when we get into close games if we expect to win."

Robyn Veltkamp led Cornerstone (19-11, 13-9 WHAC) with 22 points and eight rebounds while Jill Hendrickson came off of the bench to score 13 points.  Ashley Niedermayer pulled down 16 rebounds as the Golden Eagles outrebounded Lourdes 49-39.

Cornerstone shot 42.6% from the floor for the game while Lourdes connected at just 27.9% overall, despite making 10 triples.

Lourdes season comes to a close with a 9-21 record overall and a 6-16 mark in the WHAC.  The Gray Wolves came within one victory of doubling their victory total from their inaugural season, a year in which they were held scoreless in conference play.