Chicago, Ill. -  Camden Joko scored 21 points, Chloe Churilla had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and the Illinois Tech women's basketball team opened Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play with an 84-52 victory over the visiting Alverno Inferno Saturday afternoon at the Keating Center. The Hawks start conference play 1-0 and move to 2-5 overall. The Inferno open NACC play 0-1 and fall to 1-4 overall.

The key to victory was points off turnovers, as the Scarlet Hawks converted 34 Alverno turnovers into 38 points. The Hawks themselves limited their own turnovers, finishing the game with a season-low 13.

First Half (Illinois Tech 37 - Alverno 27)
The Scarlet Hawks jumped out to an early 9-0 lead on the strength of two three-pointers by Joko, and a solo three-pointer from Allie Sillo. Alverno responded with an 11-6 run of their own to cut their deficit to 15-11 before Churilla put in a layup with 1:13 to go in the first quarter, closing out the scoring in the first frame with the Hawks leading 17-11 heading into the second quarter.

A steal by Kaya Jones, her layup and the subsequent conversion of her "and one" free throw gave the Scarlet Hawks a 20-11 lead to open the second quarter. From there, Alverno mounted their best stretch of the game, completing an 11-0 run, culminated by a layup basket and subsequent "and one" free throw by Morgan Whitten at the 5:22 mark to give the Inferno a 22-20 lead. A 6-0 run allowed the Scarlet Hawks to regain the lead at 26-22 at the 3:25 mark of the second quarter, and the Hawks finished off the quarter with an 11-5 advantage to hold a 27-27 lead at the half. Joko led the Hawks in scoring in the first half with 13 points, with Sillo adding 9 points and 3 rebounds and Churilla pulling down 6 rebounds.

Second Half (Illinois Tech 47 - Alverno 25) 
A dominant start by Illinois Tech in the second half saw the Scarlet Hawks open with a 20-4 run for a 57-31 lead with 3:33 remaining in the third quarter. Alverno was able to stem the tide over the next couple minutes, scoring 12 out of the subsequent 13 points to cut their deficit to 58-43, before a Churilla layup with 7 seconds left in the third quarter gave Illinois Tech a 60-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Hawks put the game away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Alverno 24-9 in the final frame, taking advantage of 13 Inferno fouls and converting on 16 of 22 free throws. Churilla with 13 more points and 7 rebounds in the second half, with Joko adding 8 points and 3 steals.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Camden Joko with 21 points to lead all scorers, including 4 of 7 from three point range, and 9 of 10 on free throws. She also added 3 steals.
• Chloe Churilla with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
• Allie Sillo with 12 points on 4 of 8 from behind the three-point line, while adding 8 rebounds.
• 11 points and 4 rebounds for Grace Goodnough.
• Kaya Jones with 5 assists and 4 steals.

Inferno Watch

• Laila Alramahi led Alverno with 11 points.
• Madalyn Kavalary had 9 rebounds and 6 points while leading all players with 3 blocks.

Inside The Box Score

• The Scarlet Hawks shot 72% on free throws(28-39), while the Inferno were 16-27 for 59%.
• Illinois Tech converted on 42% of their three-pointers(8-19), while Alverno would only convert 2 of 15 from behind the arc for 13% three-point shooting.

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will take a pause during finals week before returning to action next Saturday, December 9th, when they travel to Lisle, Illinois to take on the Benedictine University Eagles at 2:00 PM in another NACC matchup.