The Aurora University Spartan women's basketball team came out with a strong start to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match-up with Alverno College but could not hold on as they were unable to extinguish the Inferno, losing 54-50.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Alverno College 54, Aurora University 50
LOCATION: Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium – Aurora, Illinois
RECORDS: Aurora University 2-10 overall and 1-6 NACC; Alverno College 4-7 overall and 4-2 NACC.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Spartans came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, controlling the tempo all over the court.
AU opened a 9-2 lead midway through the quarter behind five points from Alyssa Brems.
The Spartans continued to play well and built their largest lead of 14 with 1:12 left on a three from Brems, her fourth of the opening quarter.
AU led after the first quarter, 21-7.
In the second quarter, AU maintained a healthy lead, building a game-high 16-point advantage on several occasions.
Adriana Ramirez had the hot hand in the second, scoring eight of the 13 Spartan points.
Heading into halftime, AU led 34-21.
As hot as the Spartans were in the first-half, they were equally as cold to start the second. AU opened the third quarter going 0-9 with four turnovers as Alverno cut the 13 point AU halftime lead down to two (34-32) with 4:28 to play.
After building the lead back to six at 38-32, the Spartans saw the Inferno run off another run to finish the quarter (11-2) and AU trailed after three quarters, 43-40.
The fourth quarter was a tightly played session with AU trailing by no more than three and regained the lead (50-49) with 4:10 to play on a Alyssa Brems basket.
The final minutes were unkind to the Spartans as they could not convert a field goal and Alverno made three of four free throws and mad one basket for the 54-50 victory over AU.

FOR THE SPARTANS
Alyssa Brems had 21 points with eight rebounds.
Adriana Ramirez had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Rachel Baumgartner had six points and 10 rebounds.
Brianna Williams had eight points.
 
SPARTAN STAT LEADERS
POINTS: Alyssa Brems (21), Adriana Ramirez (12) and Brianna Williams (8)
REBOUNDS: Adriana Ramirez (13), Rachel Baumgartner (10) and Alyssa Brems (8)
ASSISTS: Allie Reichert (8) and Sami Hultine (3)
STEALS: Rachel Baumgartner (3)
 
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