MADISON, Wis. -- Alverno College was unable to overcome a 43-23 rebounding deficit and lost to host Edgewood College, 60-50, tonight in the Todd Wehr Edgedome in Northern Athletics Conference action.
Alverno scored just two second-chance points, while Edgewood scored 11 on the repeat opportunities, courtesy of 13 offensive rebounds.
The Inferno (5-9, 2-6 NAC) trailed 24-23 at intermission and the Eagles (5-8, 4-3) increased their lead to 30-23 on a 6-0 run before a Hannah Galstad (Holmen, Wis.) layup 4 minutes into the half gave the Inferno their first score of the period.
Down 37-29, Alicia Kontowski (South Milwaukee, Wis.) scored eight-straight points in nearly a minute to tie the game at 37-37 with 11 minutes remaining. Kontowski led all scorers and tied her career high with 22 points on the night, shooting 6-of-10 from the field, and 5-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. Her five treys also tied her career best mark from downtown.
The game was tied three more times, including 45-45 with 5:21 to go, before a 7-0 spurt by the Eagles over the next 3 minutes put them in the lead for good. The Eagles made four of their last five free throws to seal the victory, while the Inferno made just two of their final nine field goals down the stretch.
Other than an early eight-point lead by Edgewood in the early minutes of the game, the first half went back-and-forth and included nine lead changes.
The final 10-point spread was the largest lead by either team the entire game.
Galstad added 10 points for the Inferno while Kristen Speerschneider (New Franken, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) chipped in nine points and a game-high four assists. Jamie Hoernke (Mt. Horeb, Wis.) snagged a team-high 10 rebounds and Kontowski had five, but only three other Inferno players had a rebound in the loss, missing out on the season low of 23 by just one.
Alison Tobin led Edgewood with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and was also 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
Alverno has nearly a week off, before hosting Dominican University on Monday, January 16, in Reiman Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in the Inferno's first home game since December 19.
