MADISON, Wis. -- The Alverno College defense held host Edgewood College to under 27 percent shooting and cruised to a 65-49 Northern Athletics Conference victory Thursday night in the Todd Wehr Edgedome.

"It was a great team effort tonight," Alverno head coach Brad Duckworth commented. "The defensive effort was great, and it needs to stay there for us all year."

The Inferno (4-3, 3-2 NAC) took an 8-7 lead on a Kristen Speerschneider 3-point basket -- the team's only 3 of the game -- and remained in front of the host Eagles (2-6, 2-2 NAC) the final 35 minutes.

The visitors' lead was extended to nine points, 32-23, by halftime, and a Jamie Hoernke layup began the second half to put Alverno up by double-figures. The spread remained in doubles for all but three possessions of the final period.

Alverno shot nearly 46 percent from the floor and sealed the game with an 80-percent accuracy from the charity stripe, a 20-for-25 performance.

Devon Gorman led all scorers with 22 points, as she was 10-of-12 from the free-throw line. The junior forward tied Edgewood's Alison Tobin with a game-high nine rebounds, as the Inferno just edged the hosts with a 40-39 advantage on the boards.

Kayla Kennedy shot 6-of-11 from the floor for 16 points, Speerschneider was 6-of-12 for 14 points and Hoernke was 5-of-6 from the line and 2-of-4 from the field for nine points. Speerschneider led all passers with six assists, while Hoernke had a game-best three blocks.

Dareon Henderson came off the bench and led Edgewood with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

The victory closes out the Inferno's NAC portion of its schedule for 2012, with five nonconference games to play prior to the new year. The Inferno is next in action next Tuesday, Dec. 11, at Indiana University Northwest. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Gary.