Women's Basketball Comes Back to Take Down Gray Wolves

(Sylvania, OH)-- The Cleary Cougar women's basketball team dug themselves into an early hole, but were able to turn things around, as they overcame a 14-point deficit to win their second WHAC game of the season.

The Lourdes Gray Wolves started the game off hot, as they built a 17-4 lead halfway through the game's opening quarter.  Cleary would grow into the game, and cut the Gray Wolves' lead to 12 points after the first ten minutes of action, at 24-12.  

The second quarter saw the Cougars narrow the gap to six on two separate occasions, but Lourdes would not fold, and held a 38-29 lead at the break.

Cleary would storm out of the gates in the third quarter, outscoring the hosts 20-9, thanks in large part to Amy Jackson's three point shooting, and Mileisha Rodriguez's inside presence.  The Cougars would hold a two point advantage going into the final quarter.  Cleary stayed hot, and built their largest lead of the ballgame at 11 points with 7:30 remaining.  Lourdes would turn on the pressure in the final minutes, forcing some turnovers to cut into the Cougars' lead, but some key defensive plays by Rylee Thomas and the rest of the Cleary defenders gave Cleary their second conference win of the season by a 74-70 score.

Amy Jackson was on fire from behind the arc, as she scored 26 points, with 7 made three pointers, to post a career high and lead all scorers.  Mileisha Rodriguez nabbed her fourth double-double of the season, as she had 20 points and 13 rebounds in the game. Riley Merryfield added 14 points, while Taedom Stein had 12, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds to round out the double-digit scorers for Cleary.

The win improves Cleary's record to 2-13 overall, 2-7 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will be back on the road on Saturday, January 13, when they take on the Madonna Crusaders.  The game is set for 1:00 PM ET.