Alverno College

MILWAUKEE – The Alverno basketball team fell just shy of the Lakeland Muskies on Tuesday evening inside the Reiman Gymnasium, dropping the decision by a 73-63 score.
 
Alverno as a team shot 42.9% from the field, with 27 field goals in 63 attempts. The Inferno also connected on six from beyond the arc including four from senior Sara Redlin, who finished the game in 12 points.
 
Freshman Eniya Madden recorded a double-double as she led the team with 18 points on 8-of-11 from the field, while also corralling 12 rebounds and added eight assists. Fellow freshman Keeshya Bellows had 14 points and added eight defensive rebounds, while adding three assists and three blocks.
 
Junior Alicia Hornbuckle also had eight rebounds and picked up seven points while assisting on five made baskets. Classmate Dom Hudson had six points and three rebounds and three assists, while adding one steal.
 
In her stead on the court, junior Mikayla Tessay had four points with freshman Angie Reutgen picking up one field goal and adding one rebound. Sophomore Brittney Hondel had four rebounds, and had two assists while also picking up the second Inferno steal of the night.
 
The Muskies got a basket on their first possession of the night before Redlin answered with a three-pointer to take its first lead of the game. Madden added her first field goal of the night, while Redlin then knocked down a three-point shot to put the Inferno ahead by an 8-2 score.
 
After a series of empty possessions for both sides, Madden picked up a jumper to put the home team up by eight at 10-2. The two sides exchanged three pointers before swapping two-point field goals. Lakeland added a late layup as Alverno held a 15-9 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
After the Muskies opened the second quarter with a free throw, Tessay answered with a layup followed by a Tessay jumper on the next possession after a swipe by Hondel to give the Inferno their largest lead of the night at nine, up by a 19-10 score.
 
Lakeland chipped away with the next nine points to even the score with 5:54 left in the half before Hornbuckle snapped the Inferno dry spell to put the home side back ahead. The Inferno took a four-point lead on a Madden jumper but the Muskies answered back to even the score at 27 before the two sides were even at 31 aside at the end of the half.
 
In the third quarter, Bellows got the Inferno back ahead by a pair with a jumper off a dish by Hudson before a three-pointer by Lakeland gave the Muskies their first lead since the game-opening bucket. Bellows gave the Inferno the lead back before Lakeland answered the call again and took a 36-35 lead.
 
Alverno knotted the score at 38 before back-to-back three-pointers by Lakeland put the Muskies up 44-38 with 6:15 left in the third. Lakeland's lead swelled to a dozen, before the Inferno were able to chip the score back down to 11, trailing by a 55-44 score with 10 minutes to go.
 
The Inferno got the score back within single digits as Madden scored a fast break layup before the Muskies regained a 12-point advantage. Alverno refused to go down, ultimately pulling to within six after a made three-pointer by Hudson off a feed from Hornbuckle made it a two-possession game with just 49 seconds to go.
 
Lakeland made five-of-eight from the charity stripe down the stretch of the game to extend its lead back to 10, earning the late victory, 73-64.
 
Alverno (3-15, 3-10 NACC) will be back in action on Thursday evening, when the Inferno host the Benedictine Eagles from Reiman Gymnasium at 7 p.m. Following the matchup with the Eagles on Thursday, the team will head to Illinois for its final two trips across the state line for the regular season.