MILWAUKEE -- After a pair of nonconference games two time zones over, the Alverno College women's basketball team returns to Northern Athletics Conference play this weekend and will face conference opponents the rest of the regular season.
The Inferno (4-8, 1-5 NAC) will travel to Concordia University Chicago this Saturday to face the Cougars (4-7, 2-4 NAC) at 2 p.m. in Geiseman Gymnasium in the Chicago suburb of River Forest, Ill.
As the Inferno did last week in California, the Cougars split their two games at the RDV Sportsplex Classic in Orlando. Concordia lost to 17th-ranked Hope College, 68-54, in the opening game, followed by a slim, 65-63, victory over Olivet College in game two.
Cristina Calabrese led the Cougars on their trip and was named the NAC's weekly award winner for her efforts. Calabrese came off the bench and supplied two of the top performances of her career last week. The senior forward scored a career-high 16 points in the loss to Hope, where she was 3-of-9 from 3-point range. She then set a new career best in the win over Olivet where she scored 18 points, including a 3-pointer with 2 minutes remaining that put CUC up by four and provided the eventual winning points.
Prior to the classic the Cougars won two of their last three games, defeating Benedictine University (66-52) and Lakeland College (63-59) before losing at Concordia University Wisconsin (77-58) on Dec. 19.
The Cougars swept the series last season, 59-49 in Milwaukee and 65-53 in River Forest, and lead the all-time series 14-3, but are just 3-3 in the last six meetings.
Concordia will have live stats available for the game via cucougars.com.
