Chicago, Ill. - Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks women's basketball hosted the Aurora University Spartans in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) action on Wednesday night inside the Keating Sports Center. By the final buzzer, the Spartans (14-5, 7-3) proved to be too much as they defeated the Hawks (4-13, 3-6) by a final score of 84-55

Junior Julia Bucci started the contest needing just 13 points to reach the 1000 career point mark as a Scarlet Hawk. At the 7:55 mark in the fourth quarter, Bucci recorded a three pointer, surpassing the mark, giving her 1,001 career points. Bucci ended the contest with 1005 points. Bucci became just the sixth Scarlet Hawk in Illinois Tech women's basketball history to reach this milestone. 

First Half (Aurora 35 - Illinois Tech 23)

• The Hawks were off to a quick start over the Spartans leading for most of the first quarter before the Spartans turned things around in their favor. After being tied 13-13 at the 2:12 mark in the first quarter, the Spartans led the Hawks for the remainder of the contest. At the end of the first quarter, the Spartans were ahead 24-15. 

• Through the second quarter, the Hawks fought to stay within reach in the beginning minutes. After a scoreless streak between both sides that lasted from 6:24 to 4:54, the Spartans would go on a 14-6 run to close out the quarter and head into halftime with a 16-point, 44-28 lead. 

Second Half (Aurora 40 - Illinois Tech 27)

• Aurora had a dominating performance both offensively and defensively over Illinois Tech during the third quarter of action, outscoring the Hawks 24-3. At the end of the quarter the Spartans led 68-31. 

• In the final quarter of action, the Hawks put up their best performance offensively. Although the Hawks outscored the Spartans 24-16, there was too much ground to make up overall as they fell by a final score of 84-55 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Julia Bucci - 18 points, 5-of-18 from the field, 3-of-11 from three, 5-of-6 from the free throw line, 4 rebounds, 2 steals 

• Kaya Jones - 12 points, 2-of-7 from the field, 1-of-1 from three, 7-of-8 from the free throw line, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Spartans Standouts

• Macy Kocen - 15 points, 6-of-14 from the field, 3-of-9 from three, 2 assist,1 block, 1 steal

• Ava Barszcz - 14 points, 5-of-9 from the field, 3-of-5 from three, 1-of-2 from the free throw line, 6 rebounds

• Gabrielle Wolff - 10 points, 4-of-10 from the field, 2-of-5 from three, 3 rebounds, 1 assist

• Kamryn Bullock - 10 points, 3-of-5 from the field, 2-of-3 from three, 2-of-2 from the free throw line, 6 rebounds

• Kylie Fischbach - 10 points, 5-of-9 from the field, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals

Inside the Box Score 

• The Hawks were 14-of-57 (24.6%) from the field, 6-of-28 (21.4%) from three, and 21-of-32 (65.6%) from the free throw line

• The Spartans were 33-of-76 (43.4%) from the field, 11-of-31 (35.5%) from three, and 7-of-13 (53.8%) from the free throw line

• In rebounds, the Spartans had 51 while the Hawks had 37

• 52 of the Spartans points came from the bench

• 40 of the Spartans points were in the paint

Up Next

The Hawks will be on the road for their next game as they travel to Milwaukee, Wis. to take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders in NACC action on Saturday, January 27. Tip-off between the two sides is scheduled for 1:00 PM.