MILWAUKEE – The Alverno basketball regular season came to a close on Tuesday evening, as the Inferno hosted the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons inside the Reiman Gymnasium. The Falcons won the contest by the score of 69-45.
 
Prior to the contest the Inferno recognized seniors Dom Hudson and Mikayla Tessay in a brief on-court ceremony.
 
Junior Angie Reutgen led the Inferno in scoring as she sank 10 field goals, including one three-pointer as she finished the game with 21 points, a block and three rebounds. Hudson had 10 points and five rebounds, to go along with a team-high three assists.
 
Freshman Jewel Zahradka crashed the glass for 13 rebounds, a new season-high as she eclipsed the two previous season highs of 11 in home matchups against Illinois Tech and Dominican. Zahradka added three points, and also had one assist on the game. Classmate Lauryn Hilliard had six points and two steals, to go along with one assist and three rebounds.
 
Sophomore Courtney Zarda had a three-pointer with one rebound and a block, while classmate Kiara Ellison had one basket and a steal. Freshman Morgan Golabowski had one rebound, while fellow freshman Olivia Daugherty picked up two steals on the night.
 
The Inferno played a solid defensive stand to open the game, as the Falcons scored with the shot clock expiring, before Reutgen answered with a basket on the offensive end after an offensive rebound and pass by Zahradka. The defense stood tall on the second Falcon possession, but again the poised Concordia crew connected on another three-pointer with time expiring on the shot clock to take a 6-2 advantage.
 
The Falcons extended their lead to 14-2 before Reutgen answered on a jumper in the paint to stem the tide. Hudson, Reutgen, and a three-pointer by Zarda capped off the scoring in the opening period as the Falcons held a 28-11 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
 
Concordia Wisconsin added to its lead in the second half, despite baskets by Hilliard, a pair from Reutgen and back-to-back baskets by Hilliard as the Inferno trailed 49-21 at the break.
 
Hudson opened the second in the second half, and added a jumper a few possessions later in the third quarter, Reutgen closed out the third quarter scoring the final six Inferno points of the period to trail 59-31 heading in the fourth quarter.
 
The Falcons scored a minute into the fourth quarter to take a 61-31 lead, before Zahradka drilled a three-pointer off a feed from Hudson. After a few scoreless possessions by both sides, Hudson picked up a jumper, followed by one from Ellison to make the score 61-38.
 
Hudson and Reutgen scored baskets down the stretch before Reutgen connected on a three-pointer from the right elbow on the final possession as the Falcons picked up the 69-45 win, with Alverno outscoring Concordia Wisconsin in the second half by a 24-20 margin.
 
Alverno finishes the regular season at 1-21 and 0-15 in NACC contests and will be square off against the third-seeded Benedictine Eagles on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. from the Rice Center in Lisle, Illinois.
 
Other first round matchups on Saturday will pit #13 Illinois Tech at #4 Edgewood at 1 p.m., #9 Concordia Chicago at #8 Lakeland, #12 Dominican at #5 Aurora, #11 Marian at #6 Concordia Wisconsin, and #10 MSOE at #7 Rockford at 2 p.m. The top seeded Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors and second-seeded St. Norbert Green Knights received byes into the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, February 23.