APPLETON, Wis. -- Despite shooting just 17 percent from the floor in the second half, including only 1-of-10 from the 3-point arc, Alverno College snuck away with a 54-52 nonconference victory over host Lawrence University tonight at Alexander Gymnasium in Appleton, Wis.

The Inferno (5-6) led by as many as 19 points in the second half, but the host Vikings (0-8) cut the lead to 53-52 with 27 seconds remaining. Alicia Kontowski (South Milwaukee, Wis.) made 1-of-2 free throws with 17 seconds left leaving the door open for the Vikings.

But the Inferno defense held on as Lawrence's Nakita Chadwick missed the Vikings' final attempt and Hannah Galstad (Holmen, Wis.) snagged the defensive rebound just before time expired to seal the victory for the Inferno.

"I think one of the positives from tonight was that we had to learn how to win a game down the stretch when we weren't playing well," Alverno head coach Brad Duckworth said.

Galstad led the Inferno with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. She shot a perfect 6-of-6 in the first half, but along with the rest of her teammates went cold in the second period.

After a jumper by Alyssa Jensen (Cudahy, Wis.) at 14:15 mark of the second half, the Inferno were shutout from the floor, scoring only from the free-throw line the rest of the game. Jensen recorded her second double-double in three games with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

"I don't think we played all that poorly, we just didn't shoot well," Duckworth said.

Chadwick led the Vikings with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Alex Deshler had 10 rebounds to lead the hosts.

The Inferno get back to conference action as they take on Dominican University in a Northern Athletics Conference game on Wednesday in River Forest, Ill. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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