Women's Basketball grinds out road victory over Alverno

MILWAUKEE – Concordia University Wisconsin used a late 10-5 scoring run over the last six and a half minutes to grind out a 63-49 road victory over Alverno College during Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play on Saturday night.

The Falcons defense rose the occasion down the stretch inside Reiman Gymnasium, by frustrating the Inferno and forcing them to finish 2-of-14 from the floor. Meanwhile, five different CUW players scored during the last 6:33 to put the game out of reach.

CUW (6-2, 4-2 NACC) didn't shoot particularly well, 39.3 percent (22-of-56), but did receive 25 points from the bench and a 44-34 rebounding advantage. They also assisted on 18 of their field goals and has won the turnover battle the last five games.

Freshman Brianna Wagner (Fond du Lac, Wis.) led the Falcons with 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and a career-high five blocks in 21 minutes off the bench. Junior Megan Coenen (Green Bay, Wis.) scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and assisted on three field goals. Junior Madelyn Landgraf (Elkhart Lake, Wis.) tallied 10 points, while freshman Corrina Terrano (Phoenix, Ariz.) and sophomore Taylor DeLong (Milwaukee, Wis.) each had eight points.

Mollie Mikyska was the only player to record a double-double, 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Julie Gallegos had 11 points and five rebounds. Tessa Mersberger netted seven points and dished out five assists for the Inferno (2-7, 1-5 NACC).

During the opening 20 minutes of play, the Falcons held a 21-14 rebounding advantage and had nine offensive rebounds, which led to six second chance points. The lead change had sides three times and was tied once during the first 4:43, but from then it was all CUW as they took a 31-26 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The Falcons had a double-figure advantage for 11 minutes and 21 seconds in the second half and used a 105 scoring run over the last six minutes and 33 seconds to earn the road victory.

CUW returns to the court on Monday for a road non-conference game against Maranatha Baptist University.