Alverno College

MILWAUKEE – The Alverno basketball team extended its winning streak over the Marian Sabres to eight games dating back to the 2015-16 season, as the Inferno improved to 2-3 in 2019-20 on the conference schedule with a 61-56 victory inside the Reiman Gymnasium on Saturday evening.
 
Alverno was led offensively by a pair of players as junior Alicia Hornbuckle and freshman Eniya Madden each had 16 points to lead the way. Hornbuckle also led the team with 10 rebounds to finish the night with her first double-double of the season. Madden had a team-best seven assists and two steals, while also chipping in with six rebounds.
 
Freshman Keeshya Bellows finished one rebound shy of a double-double as she ended the night with 12 points and also led with four blocks on the night. Senior Sara Redlin had six points and five rebounds, while junior Mikayla Tessay had three points and one block.
 
Junior Dom Hudson and sophomore Brittney Hondel each had four points apiece, while Hudson had five boards on the evening.
 
As a team Alverno shot 44.9% from the field including a 52.0% in the second half. Alverno also had 38 points in the paint, while also taking advantage of Marian's 12 turnovers with 13 points off of takeaways.
 
The first quarter was evenly matched by the two teams that came into the night even in the standings in both NACC and overall records. The score was tied on four separate occasions after the initial shots of the night before the Sabres took a 16-12 lead into the second quarter after ending the first period on a 9-0 run.
 
Marian continued its run with four unanswered to open the second before a pair at the stripe from Hornbuckle put an end to the Sabre run. Bellows followed with a jumper before Hornbuckle connected on a layup to trim the lead to two. Hornbuckle laid the ball in with 4:28 to go in the half to even the score at 20. The Sabres regained a four-point lead twice down the stretch but Hornbuckle connected on a late layup to send the Inferno into the locker room trailing by two at 29-27.
 
Redlin opened up the second half with a bang as she drilled a three-ball to put the Inferno up by one. The lead see-sawed between the two sides before the third quarter ended at a 39-39 deadlock following a late layup by Madden to cap off the third-quarter scoring.
 
In the fourth it was once again Hornbuckle to get a key basket to put the Inferno ahead by two, but was answered by a jumper by Marian. Hudson converted a layup but again it was answered by the Sabres.
 
After the score was tied at 45 with 6:47 to go in regulation, Redlin drilled her second three-pointer of the night followed by a layup as Hornbuckle dished the ball to Hudson. Madden made a layup to put Alverno up by seven before a Bellows layup gave the Inferno their largest lead of the night at nine, 54-45.
 
Marian attempted to chip away at the lead and trimmed the score to three with 24 seconds left but Madden converted two from the line to give her eight free throws on the night as she iced the game in favor of the Inferno.
 
Alverno (2-6, 2-3 NACC) wrapped up conference play in 2019 with Saturday's matchup with Marian, but the Inferno will play its final two non-conference games of the season beginning with a short trip to Mount Mary on Tuesday night for a 6 p.m. tip from the Bloechl Center.