Health & Fitness
Alverno Secures First NAC Victory, 64-48, Over Visiting Maranatha
Alverno College took its first and final lead of the game on a 20-6 run to end the first half and secured its first conference win of the season, 64-48, over visiting Maranatha.
Alverno College took its first and final lead of the game on a 20-6 run to end the first half and secured its first Northern Athletics Conference win of the season, 64-48, over visiting Maranatha Baptist Bible College tonight in Reiman Gymnasium.
Trailing 20-15 with 9 minutes to play in the period, the Inferno (3-6, 1-4 NAC) began their go-ahead run on a Hanna Galstad (Holmen, Wis.) jumper.
Kayla Kennedy (Trempealeau, Wis./Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau) scored the next nine points of the game followed by a Galstad basket before the Crusaders (4-3, 1-3) countered with a Laci Peterson layup to cut the Inferno lead to six, 28-22.
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"Kayla's been playing really great and did a great job again tonight," Alverno head coach Brad Duckworth said. "All season, she's been playing at such a high level offensively and has also been defending great."
The six-point gap would be as close as the game would get the rest of the way as the Inferno took a 35-26 advantage into the locker room at the break.
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Just 4 minutes into the second half the Inferno would extend their lead to 17 on a Kristen Speerschneider (New Franken, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) 3-pointer for the largest lead of the night, 49-32.
The Crusaders would cut the lead to 10 on two occasions, but the Inferno answered each time to remain in control and come away with the victory.
"After the last two games it hasn't been easy," Duckworth said. "[To get ready] we put in a lot of hard work and watched a lot of film, and film doesn't lie. And tonight the results showed. I think the players responded, and that's why we won."
Three Inferno players scored in double-figures tonight led by Kennedy's 19 points -- a new career-high -- on 7-of-10 shooting. Galstad added 15, also 7-of-10 from the field, and Speerschneider added 11.
Jamie Hoernke (Mt. Horeb, Wis.) grabbed a career and game-high 14 rebounds, while Galstad added four steals on the defensive end.
Peterson led the Crusaders with 15 points and nine rebounds and Hallie Nelson added nine points.
The Inferno shot over 40 percent (43.9) for just the third time this season and held the Crusaders -- who came into the game leading the league in field goal percentage -- to just 36.4 percent. Alverno also forced 24 turnovers and won the rebounding battle 39-35.
Alverno isn't in action again until Monday, Dec. 19, when it hosts Marian University for the final game before the holidays. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Reiman Gymnasium.
