The Aurora University women's basketball team opened the 2020 portion of the season with a 69-62 victory over Alverno College. An 11-2 Spartan run late in the fourth quarter sealed the AU win.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Aurora University 69, Alverno College 62
LOCATION: Lancaster Court in Thornton Gymnasium - Aurora, Illinois
RECORDS: Aurora University 7-2 overall and 4-1 NACC; Alverno College 2-9 overall and 2-4 NACC
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Spartans started off slow and trailed 11-4 midway through the first quarter and Head Coach Ryan Rebsom made a full line substitutiion for his starting line up.
- AU answered with a 9-2 run to tie the game before an Alverno three gave the visitors a 16-13 lead after one quarter.
- The second quarter again started off slowly for the Spartans but they responded with a 9-0 run with four points from Karissa King to lead 24-19 with 4:49 in the opening half.
- After Alverno clawed back to tie the game, Sydni Olson converted a lay-up to give AU a 28-26 halftime lead.
- The Spartans built a comfortable lead in the third quarter but again the Inferno could not be extinguished as they hung around.
- After three quarters, AU led 48-46.
- AU would never trail in the second-half and with 4:22 left, led 55-54.
- With 2:21 left in the game, Spartan Julie Galauner collected her 12th straight point and gave AU their largest lead at 10 (66-56) and forcing an Alverno timeout.
- AU fought off the Inferno in the closing minutes and won the first game of the new decade, 69-62.

SPARTAN STAT LEADERS
Points: Julie Galauner (20), Savannah Johnson and Meija Rabi (12)
Assists: Karissa King (4)
Rebounds: Meija Rabi (9), Sydni Olson and Karissa King (6)

UP NEXT
Next action for the Spartan women's basketball team comes on Wednesday, January 8 when they travel to Concordia University Chicago. Tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. in River Forest, Illinois.