The Aurora University women's basketball team faced a win or go home for the season scenario as they hosted the Inferno of Alverno College on a cold Tuesday evening in Thornton Gymnasium. The Spartans used the cold to their advantage as they iced the Inferno 83-57 and with the win and loss by Marian University, the Spartans clinched the NACC Tournament appearance.
 

The Spartans and the Inferno started off with both teams being ice cold from the field as the first basket did not come until 3:22 into the game. AU junior Shannon Koski ignited the Spartans offense with a three and she would remain hot the rest of the night.

Following a Koski lay-up, AU led 12-2 with 11:44 to play in the first half. At that point Koski had five points but she started to heat up hitting multiple three's as AU expanded on their lead. After an Alverno timeout with AU up 17-6, senior Rachel Rivera grabbed an offensive rebound and passed the ball out to Koski who drained the three to extend the Spartans lead to 12 (20-8) with 10:00 minutes to play in the half.
 

AU would keep the pressure on the Inferno forcing them to shoot 32.1-percent from field in the first half and go into halftime leading 43-24. Koski led with 20 first half points and junior Bethany Dorrington had 12 points. The Spartans were 7-10 from beyond-the-arc and shot 57.7-percent from the field.
 

The second half started right where the first half left off with Koski draining three's. Coming out of halftime, she hit two consecutive three pointers, extending AU's lead to 25 (49-26).
 

The Spartans continued to heat up and with 8:41 left in the game AU had their largest lead of the game at 39 when senior Neely Marks hit a three of her own. AU Head Coach Brittany Carper, emptied her bench down the stretch as AU coasted to the 83-57 win.

Koski led all scorers with 37 points on 14-of-19 shooting from the field, including six-of-=eight from three-point range. Dorrington finished with 12 points and five assists, freshman Morgan Ricketts had 11 rebounds and five points, Rivera had nine points, freshman Natalie Branch had seven points, five assists and four rebounds and Marks had five points, five rebounds, five blocked shots, four assists and two steals. As a team, AU shot 12-of-22 from three-point range and 51.6-percent from the field for the game.

With the win, AU is now 8-17 overall and 8-12 in the NACC. Next action for the Spartan women's basketball team comes on Saturday, February 21, 2015 when they travel to Wisconsin Lutheran College in the NACC Tournament. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.