Women's Basketball Earns Hard Fought Victory Over Lourdes

(Sylvania, OH)-- After a slow first quarter, the Cleary Cougar women's basketball team won quarters two, three, and four to take down the third-place Lourdes Gray Wolves Wednesday evening in Sylvania, Ohio.

Lourdes scored the first nine points of the game before a Taedom Stein jumper got the Cougars on the board.  Lourdes would score five consecutive points to take a 14-2 lead, and after Samantha Hoelscher jumper, Lourdes would score one more basket in the quarter, taking a 16-4 lead with 3:46 to play in the opening ten minutes.  Cleary scored the quarter's final five points, with Mileisha Rodriguez scoring three points, and Amy Jackson scoring the team's other two points, helping the Cougars to cut the deficit to 16-9 after the end of the quarter.

A pair of Mileisha Rodriguez and Izzy Dugal layups, followed by an Izzy Dugal three pointer made it a two point game.  Lourdes would go on a quick 5-0 run to reestablish a seven point advantage.  After the quarter's media timeout, Samantha Hoelscher hit a layup, followed by an Amy Jackson three pointer cut the Gray Wolf lead to three.  Trailing 32-28 with 1:30 to play in the half, Cleary scored the final four points of the quarter after Amy Jackson and Mileisha Rodriguez scored back to back layups, tying the game at 32-32.

Cleary took the lead for the first time on their second half possession when Rylee Thomas hit a three.  After Lourdes took the lead back, Rylee Thomas hit another three to give the Cougars a 38-36 advantage.  Lourdes would score six straight points to take a 42-38 lead, then Amy Jackson knocked down a three, then hit a pair of free throws just before the quarter ended to give the Cougars a 43-42 lead with ten minutes to play.

Mileisha Rodriguez would hit a layup and convert the and-one free throw to give Cleary a four point lead in the fourth quarter.  After getting a defensive stop, Taedom Stein hit a layup, and after another defensive stop, an Izzy Dugal layup made it a 50-42 lead for the Cougars.  Cleary's defense continued to get the stops they needed, allowing Rylee Thomas to knock down another three, and gave the Cougars their first double-digit lead of the game with eight minutes to play.  Lourdes would cut the Cleary lead to seven points with just over four minutest to play, but an Amy Jackson three gave the Cougars their answer, and essentially was the dagger that ended Lourdes' chances in the game.  Lourdes was forced to foul, but Cleary would make their free throws down the stretch to hold on for a double-digit victory over the Gray Wolves.

Amy Jackson had a team high 17 points and 4 rebounds to lead the Cleary offense.  Mileisha Rodriguez added 12 points and 13 rebounds, to go with 2 steals and a blocked shot.  Izzy Dugal had 12 points and 6 rebounds off the bench, and Rylee Thomas had 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers.

Cleary improves to 9-15 overall, 8-9 in the WHAC.  After playing six consecutve road games, the Cougars will be back at Gannon Gymnasium on Saturday to honor this year's seniors on Senior Day, as they host the Cornerstone Golden Eagles.  Senior Day festivities will begin at 12:30 PM, and the game will tip-off at 1:00 PM.