MILWAUKEE – The Alverno basketball team fell in a closely contested matchup on Saturday evening, falling on a last-second field goal to the Dominican Stars by the score of 55-54 inside the Reiman Gymnasium.
 
Alverno led with 4:16 left in the fourth quarter at 50-48 following a layup by freshman Jewel Zahradka, who broke free on a fast break layup off of a steal on the defensive end. The Stars scored the next four points to take a 52-48 lead before freshman Lauryn Hilliard converted a layup to knot the score at 52 with over two minutes remaining.
 
The Stars scored the next two points on free throws before a well-drawn play allowed junior Angie Reutgen to slip past the Dominican defense off of an in-bounds by senior Dom Hudson to even the score at 54. However, a last-second foul against the Inferno saw Dominican convert on one-of-two from the line to escape with the one-point victory.
 
The Inferno had big performances throughout the lineup as Alverno had a balanced attack on the evening. Reutgen led the team in scoring with a career-high 23 points on a career-best 10 field goals made, while also connecting on a pair from the stripe. Reutgen's stat line concluded with one rebounds and one assist.
 
Hudson also contributed with a career-night as she pulled down 15 rebounds, four clear of her previous career-high of 11 set early in the season against Marian on January 23 of last season. Hudson was second on the team in scoring with eight points, while also leading the team with four rebounds, and added one steal on the effort.
 
Sophomore Courtney Zarda drilled a pair of three-pointers and finished the night with eight points, and a career-best seven boards, breaking her previous career-high of five set in the season opener against North Central on November 5. Hilliard ended the game with seven points and six rebounds, with one assist on the game.
 
Zahradka had five points on the game, and ripped down 11 rebounds to tie her season-high, while also registering one steal, the key swipe late in the fourth period. Freshman Morgan Golabowski had three pointe from the free throw line, and had one rebound and the team's lone block on the night, while sophomore Kiara Ellison had one rebound on the offensive glass.
 
The game was closely contested throughout the duration of the matchup with the score tied on eight occasions through the 40-minute bout. Alverno had a 14-12 lead after the opening quarter, and a one-point lead at 27-26 at halftime. Dominican stormed back in the third quarter to take a six-point lead in after 30 minutes at 44-38 lead.
 
In the fourth period, Alverno outscored the Stars 16-11, but it was just shy of the lead as the score was tied at 54 before the Stars connected on the last-second free throw to take the one-point victory.
 
Alverno (1-18, 0-12 NACC) will be on the road all of next week beginning with a trip to Wisconsin Lutheran on Tuesday, followed by the Inferno's lone matchup against Rockford on Saturday. Tuesday's matchup gets underway at 7 p.m. from the Recreation Complex in nearby Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.