MILWAUKEE -- The Alverno College women's basketball team lost a Northern Athletics Conference game to the visiting Muskies of Lakeland College, 63-54, at Reiman Gymnasium in Milwaukee.
The Inferno (4-7, 1-5 NAC) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on layups by Katie Salentine (Muskego, Wis.) and Gabby Allen (Milwaukee, Wis./Bay View), but Lakeland (10-3, 5-1 NAC) would answer quickly with a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the game.
After reclaiming the lead at 8-7 with 15:17 left in the first half on a jumper by Joslyn Binkowski (Greenfield, Wis.), the Inferno would go without a field goal for almost five minutes. The Muskies would take advantage of Alverno's temporarily anemic offense using a 16-2 run to take the biggest lead of the game at 23-10 with just under 11 minutes to play in the first period.
The Inferno would slowly chip into Lakeland's lead, led by senior forward Bre Miller's (Racine, Wis./Horlick) two three-point field goals. Junior Lisa Sorgi (Milwaukee, Wis./Greenfield) would score on an offensive rebound with 2:22 to give Alverno the 29-28 lead. The Muskies would then finish the half on a 4-2 run taking the one point advantage into the locker room.
Both teams would shoot outstanding from the floor in the first half as Lakeland went 12-of-24 (50-percent) and Alverno was 13-of-27 (48-percent). The rims would not be so kind for Alverno in the second half as they shot only 34-percent from the floor (9-of-26) in the period.
Lakeland would hold their lead for most of the second half keeping the Inferno within two possessions, until Alverno took the lead at 45-44 with 6:48 left to play on a layup by Allen. Binkowski would add to the lead on the next possession with a layup, but it would be Alverno's final lead of the game.
Lakeland would finish the game on a 19-7 run, nailing their free throws down the stretch to come away with the 63-54 road victory. The Muskies shot 17-of-19 from the charity stripe for a 90-percent mark.
Alverno won the rebounding battle for only the fifth time this season with a 33-30 advantage on the glass led by Miller with a game-high seven rebounds.
Miller, Alverno's all-time leading scorer, led the Inferno in scoring with 16 points, followed by Sorgi with 15 and Salentine with 11.
Lakeland's Autumn Gaylor (Ingleside, Ill./Grant) would lead all scorers with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, and a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
The Inferno will look to bounce back from the loss as they travel to play Dominican University tomorrow in a NAC South matchup at 2pm. Alverno will then host Benedictine University on Tuesday, Jan. 13 for another divisional game at 7pm.
