FOND DU LAC, Wis. -- The Alverno College women’s basketball team ended the season on a high note with a 61-45 victory over host Marian University in a “Northern Athletics Conference Challenge” game.
The “NAC Challenge” pits the conference’s North Division teams versus the South Division teams, based on the final conference standings. The game does not count as a conference game, but may be used as a tie-breaker for the teams qualifying for the NAC Tournament. Alverno and Marian both finished in fifth place in their respective divisions, one spot out of the conference tournament.
The Inferno (11-14, 6-12 NAC) took an early 4-0 lead on layups by Gabby Allen (Milwaukee, Wis./Bay View) and Lisa Sorgi (Milwaukee, Wis./Greenfield). Yet the Sabres (6-19, 3-14) quickly responded with a 6-0 run of their own to take the 6-4 lead.
The lead would go back and forth in the first half, and became tied at 19-19 with 2:35 to play. The Inferno would then finish the half on an 8-4 run to take the 27-23 lead at intermission. Allen scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half, going 6-of-12 in the period.
Alverno would retain the lead the remainder of the game, and open up the second half on a 15-5 run for a 14-point advantage with just under 14 minutes to play. Sorgi would provide the spark in the run, scoring 11 of the 15 points in the 6 minute span.
The Sabres would claw their way back in the game, cutting the lead to 46-41 with 7 minutes left in the game, but Alverno’s stingy defense would let the hosts get no closer, holding them to four points the remainder of the game.
The Inferno would garner their largest lead of the game at 61-43 on a three-point basket by senior Katie Salentine (Muskego, Wis.) on the team’s final offensive possession of the season.
Coleen Moody (Mt. Calvary, Wis.) would score two of her team-high 20 points for the Sabres on their last possession for the final score of 61-45.
All nine Inferno who were in uniform scored in today’s game.
Sorgi led the Inferno with a game-high 24 points – which was also her season-high – shooting 8-of-12 from the field, 1-of-2 from the three-point arc, and was 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Sorgi, a junior guard, eclipsed the 900-point mark in last Wednesday’s game, and became the school’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing senior teammate Bre Miller (Racine, Wis./Horlick) who took the record previously this season. Sorgi now has 933 points and Miller finishes an impressive career with 910 points. Sorgi and Miller are the only two players in Alverno history to score over 900 career points
Miller had a team-high three steals, grabbed four rebounds and had three assists in the final game of her career.
Senior forward Joslyn Binkowski (Greenfield, Wis.) grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and dished out a game-high five assists in her final game, adding to her career leading totals at Alverno.
The Inferno shot 46 percent from the floor, including 33 percent (6-of-18) from the three-point arc, while holding the Sabres to 25 percent from the floor and 17 percent from the three-point line.
The Inferno added to their school record victories this season, finishing with 11. The previous record of eight victories was set in the program’s inaugural season in 2000-01.
This was also the first time in school history that the Inferno finished the season with a victory.
