LISLE, Ill. -- A poor performance from the free-throw line finally caught up to Alverno College. The Inferno made less than 54 percent of its free-throw attempts in a 61-56 loss to host Benedictine University, while the Eagles made 83 percent of theirs.

Alverno (2-1, 1-1 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference) was just 10-of-18 in its season opener Tuesday, a slightly improved 18-of-28 in its home opener Thursday, but had its worst showing yet this season with a 15-of-28 performance from the line tonight.

Despite the free-throw struggles, the Inferno had its chance to pull out a conference road victory. Devon Gorman connected on a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 44 seconds left in the game to pull the Inferno within three, 55-52, but the Eagles (1-2, 1-0 NACC) quickly answered with a layup in the following possession.

Gorman (13 points, 9 rebounds) matched it with a layup of her own to keep it a one-possession game, and the Inferno defense held the Eagles to a miss, but an ill-advised fast-break turnover returned the ball to the Eagles.

With under a minute to play, Benedictine made 1-of-2 free throws to push the spread to four. Kristen Speerschneider, who led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, drove to the hoop and made a short jumper with 21 seconds remaining as she was undercut by an Eagle defender. She appeared to be heading to the line to try and cut the game to one, but the Inferno point guard was whistled for a charge and the basket was waived off as the Eagles received the ball and retained the two-possession lead.

The Eagles connected on three of their final four free-throw attempts to seal the victory.

Vincenza Ranallo led Benedictine with 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting and tied the Inferno's Gorman with a game-high nine rebounds.

The poor shooting night extended to the field as Alverno was held to under 30 percent shooting from the floor for the third-straight time in the Rice Center, which includes a season-ending 21-percent showing in the NACC Tournament Quarterfinal loss last February.

The team gets a week to regroup before it hosts defending conference champion and preseason favorite Wisconsin Lutheran College next Saturday in Reiman Gymnasium.