AURORA, Illinois -- A slow start was overcome by a 22-6 third quarter as visiting Alverno College rallied to defeat Aurora University, 54-50, Tuesday night at Thornton Gymnasium for a second straight Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference win.

The Inferno trailed 21-7 at the end of the first quarter and was down as many as 16 points in the second and headed into halftime down 34-21.

Alverno then started clicking in the third and scored the first 11 points of the quarter to pull within a basket of the Spartans. A 7-0 run to close out the period gave the Inferno its first lead of the contest, 43-40.

Aurora (2-10, 1-6 NACC) took a brief one-point lead midway through the fourth, 50-49, but was held scoreless the final 4 minutes, 10 seconds as Katelyn Bartlett made a pair of free throws at the 2:32 mark to put the Inferno ahead for good. Donna Zehner scored a layup on the next possession and iced the game with a free throw in the final seconds for the last score of the contest.

Mollie Mikyska led Alverno with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting and added six rebounds while Gabby Hood scored 10 and had four assists. Bartlett registered her first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds as the senior forward was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. The Inferno made 11-of-15 second-half free throws.

The Spartans, who attempted just four free throws in the game and were held to 29 percent shooting from the field, were led by Alyssa Brems' 21 points as she made five 3-pointers on the night.

Alverno (4-7, 4-2 NACC) hosts Benedictine University Thursday night inside Reiman Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. tipoff.