CHICAGO -- Alverno College opened the season with a convincing 83-27 victory over Illinois Institute of Technology on Tuesday night in Chicago.

The visiting Inferno (1-0) jumped out to a 15-5 lead on a Jamie Hoernke jumper and extended the spread to over 30 on back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman Tessa Mersberger and Kristen Speerschneider in the final minutes of the first half.

The Scarlet Hawks (0-3) had no answer for balanced offensive attack of the Inferno which had 11 players score, including a trio of seniors in double-digits.

"It's important to get those first-game jitters out," Alverno Head Coach Brad Duckworth said. "It's a weird year with our next game, the second game of the season, being a conference game. Being able to play everyone close to or more than about 10 minutes tonight was important."

Hoernke led all scorers with 19 on 6-of-10 shooting, Speerschneider chipped in 14 to go along with her game-high six assists, while Devon Gorman added 10 points.

Ashley Berry snagged nine rebounds to lead the Inferno on the glass while scoring nine points, and Mersberger added six rebounds and nine points.

Illinois Tech got 10 points from Adrianna Maron on 3-of-17 shooting, but the point-guard was forced into seven of the team's 27 turnovers.

Gorman and Speerschneider had four steals apiece as the Inferno had 17 on the night.

One of Alverno's lone negatives of the night was a dismal 10-of-18 performance from the free-throw line.

After tonight's nonconference tune-up, the Inferno returns home for its Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference opener versus Edgewood College on Thursday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. in Reiman Gymnasium.