Alverno College

MILWAUKEE – The Alverno basketball team registered its third conference win of the season on Saturday evening, when the Inferno downed the visiting Rockford Regents by a 67-35 score inside the Reiman Gymnasium.
 
Alverno has three players reach double figures in scoring on the night, including a career-best 12 points from sophomore Brittney Hondel, who knocked down six field goals. Tying for the team lead with six field goals was junior Alicia Hornbuckle, who recorded a team-best 14 points and was two rebounds shy of a double-double as she was second on the team with eight boards.
 
Leading the team on the glass was freshman Keeshya Bellows with 10, as she also led the Inferno with four steals on the game and also chipped in with a season-best six assists. Senior Sara Redlin knocked down three from beyond the arc as she added another 13 poitns to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
 
Freshman Eniya Madden led the Inferno with seven assists and added one steal and four rebounds as she added seven points on the night. Junior Dom Hudson recorded six points and picked up six rebounds, while also adding four assists.
 
Junior Mikayla Tessay rounded out the scoring effort for Alverno with six points as she went 3-for-3 from the field and also chipped in with one rebounds, one block and one assist. Bellows and Hornbuckle also added one block apiece on the night. Freshman Angie Reutgen added nine minutes on the court to round out Alverno's lineup.
 
Rockford took an early lead late on the opening possession before Madden answered to tie the game on a feed from Bellows. Hudson connected on a three-pointer, followed by a three-ball by Redlin to put the Inferno up by an 8-2 score with 3:09 left in the opening period. Tessay made it 10 unanswered points before the Regents connected on its second field goal of the game with 43 seconds left in the period.
 
Alverno continued to add to its score as Bellows had a layup followed by a jumper by Hornbuckle. After a pair of free throws by Rockford, Madden made a layup to put the home team up by nine. Hornbuckle gave Alverno an 11-point lead with 4:40 to go in the half before dropping another jumper to make it a 24-11 lead. Hudson converted on a layup and added a free throw on the play before Bellows made it a 17-point lead with 3:23 remaining.
 
A pair of late field goals by the Regents were both answered by Hondel, as the Inferno took a 32-15 lead into the halftime break. The Inferno shot 40.0% from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play, while the Regents connected on just six field goals for a 26.1 shooting percent in the half.
 
Rockford opened the second quarter with a jumper before Madden stepped back for her lone three-pointer of the night to put the Inferno up by 18. Redlin then drained another three-pointer, followed by a jumper by Bellows to put the Inferno ahead by 23 at 40-17. The lead swelled to 25 following a Hornbuckle jumper, which was the same margin the Inferno held on to heading into the final period.
 
In the fourth the home squad continued to impress on the court with back-to-back field goals to open the period as Redlin picked up another three-pointer while the Inferno took a 30-point lead at 57-27 on a Hondel jumper.
 
In the waning minutes of regulation the Inferno added to its lead at 67-35 to take its largest lead of the contest at 32 points as Alverno cruised late to pick up the conference win.
 
Alverno (3-12, 3-7 NACC) will look to use tonight's momentum in its next game as the Inferno will host Concordia Chicago on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. from inside the Reiman Gymnasium. Wednesday's matchup will be the only game of the regular season between the Inferno and the Cougars.