Chicago, Ill. – For a Saturday afternoon contest, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks women's basketball team welcomed the Alverno College Inferno to the Keating Sports Center for a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) contest. With both teams looking to snap a losing streak, it would be the Hawks (6-9, 2-4) that ended up on top, as they extinguished the Inferno (2-13, 0-6) 82-61 at the final buzzer. 

The visiting Alverno Inferno got the game going with a layup eight seconds into the contest before Illinois Tech's Berit Rusing made a layup of her own. Following a 4-4 tie, the Inferno would jump ahead and hold onto the lead for much of the first quarter. With the end of the quarter nearing, the Hawks cut into the Inferno's lead and eventually tied the contest at 13-13 with 3:36 remaining on the clock. From there, the Hawks took the lead with a jumper by Grace Goodnough at 3:26 and never looked back. At the end of the first quarter, the Hawks led the Inferno 22-15. 

Kaya Jones began the second quarter with a jumper followed by an Allie Sillo three to put the Hawks ahead 27-15. At 8:50, the Inferno made one free throw before a two-minute scoreless draught followed. Camden Joko broke the scoreless drought with a fastbreak layup in the paint. For the remainder of the period, the Hawks steadily grew their lead, and with 18 seconds left, Rusing put the Hawks ahead 47-25 before the halftime buzzer rang. 

Coming out of halftime, the Inferno got on the board first with two made free throws. With the clock ticking, the Hawks held a dominating lead over the Inferno, including a 28-point lead with 2:41 remaining after a Halle Williams layup made the score 66-38. This marked the Hawks' largest lead of the game, which would be seen two more times in the fourth quarter. Goodnough closed out the quarter with a jumper, making the score 68-42.  

During the final quarter of action, a Bucci three pointer at 7:54 gave the Hawks a 28-point lead, tying their largest of the contest. The Inferno would go down and make two free throws followed by a fastbreak layup in the paint. With 5:51 remaining, Williams recorded a free throw, once again tying the Hawks largest lead and making the score 73-45. During the remaining minutes, the Inferno slowly cut into the Hawks lead, but the damage had already been done. Olivia Ikeda closed out the contest with a three pointer as the Hawks extinguished the Inferno by a final score of 82-61.  

SCARLET HAWK STANDOUTS 

• Julia Bucci led the team with a double-double, her first of the season, while recording a season high of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Bucci went 6-of-16 (37.5%) from the field, 3-of-12 (25.0%) from three, and 1-of-2 (50.0%) from the free throw line. She also added on one assist and one steal 

• Chloe Churilla followed closely, with 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal 

• Halle Williams tallied 11 points, six rebounds, two assists, and one block 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

• Illinois Tech went 34-of-80 (42.5%) from the field, 6-of-30 (20.0%) from three, and 8-of-18 (44.4%) from the free throw line 

• Alverno went 21-of-68 (30.9%) from the field, 2-of-10 (20.0%) from three, and 17-of-25 (68.0%) from the free throw line 

• The game saw three ties and one lead change 

• The Hawks out rebounded the Inferno 58-42 

• 29 of the Hawks points came off the bench 

• 15 points came off turnovers for the Hawks 

• 48 of the Hawks points came in the paint 

UP NEXT 

The Hawks will be back inside the Keating Sports Center on Wednesday, January 22nd, when they welcome the Dominican University Stars for a conference game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM.