MILWAUKEE -- Trailing by 10 points with just over 10 minutes to go, the Alverno College women's basketball team found itself in a familiar position this season. Yet an 11-0 run gave the Inferno some energy to pull out the 61-56 Northern Athletics Conference win over the visiting Cougars of Concordia University Chicago this afternoon at Reiman Gymnasium.

"We put too much pressure on ourselves sometimes," Alverno head coach Brad Duckworth said. "We have all these freshmen and first-year players playing big minutes for us and I think we finally just calmed down and played."

The Inferno were in a similar position opening-night against Lawrence, which the Inferno came back to win 75-63.

Freshman guard Kelsey Kochanowski (Oak Creek, Wis.) led the Inferno (2-2, 1-0 NAC) with 14 points in a 6-of-8 shooting performance and seven rebounds.

Rachel Diedrich, a freshman center from Two Rivers, Wis., was two rebounds shy of her third career double-double in four games with 10 points and eight rebounds. She also added three blocks on the defensive end.

Junior guard and transfer, Shataya McComb (Kingston, N.Y.), added nine points, seven rebounds and game-highs of four assists and three steals for the Inferno, again providing a spark off the bench.

Senior Lisa Sorgi (Milwaukee, Wis./Greenfield) and junior Gabby Allen (Milwaukee, Wis./Bay View) added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

The Cougars (1-2, 0-1 NAC) were led by junior Marche Smith (Oak Park, Ill./Trinity) with a game-best 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting, and 10 rebounds.

Alverno shot 50 percent from the field (23-of-46), but managed to shoot only 25 percent from the 3-point line (2-of-8) and 54 percent from the free throw line (13-of-24).

"We have to shoot it a little better from the 3-point and free throw lines, and execute a little better," Duckworth said.

The Inferno are on the road next Wednesday, Dec. 2, at Wisconsin Lutheran College for a 7 p.m. tip, and then travel to Concordia University Wisconsin on Saturday, Dec. 5, for a 2 p.m. tip.