LA CROSSE, Wis. -- The Alverno College women's basketball  team lost to host UW-La Crosse 73-52 in the La Crosse Holiday Classic tonight at Mitchell Hall.

The Inferno, who fell to 3-7 on the season, led 13-12 with 10 minutes, 46 seconds left in the first half, but the host Eagles (8-4) finished the half on a 29-3 run to lead 41-16 at the break.

"Our lack of good choices offensively hurt us in that stretch," Alverno head coach Brad Duckworth said. "When it was 13-12, we were really patient offensively. We worked the ball and got the ball where we wanted it--and that fed our defense. But our poor choices on offense led us to bad situations on defense."
Alverno shot a measly 21.9 percent from the floor in the first half, but picked things up in the second half shooting 43.3 percent in the final period including 2-of-8 from the 3-point arc. The Inferno outscored the Eagles 36-32 in the final 20 minutes.

"For 30 minutes we were just as good as they were," Duckworth said. "But for 10 we really fell apart."

Junior guard Gabby Allen (Milwaukee, Wis./Bay View) led Alverno with 15 points, five rebounds and a game-high seven assists to go along with three steals on the offensive end.

Alicia Kontowski (South Milwaukee, Wis.) added 13 points and five rebounds, and Shataya McComb (Kingston, N.Y.) had 12 points and six boards.

The Eagles' Melissa Lang led the Eagles with a game-high 16 points.

Alverno will play UW-Superior tomorrow at 3 p.m. in day two of the Holiday Classic. Superior lost to the University of Dubuque 69-50 in the opening game of the classic tonight.