FOND DU LAC, Wis. (SabreAthletics.com) – The Marian University women's basketball team dropped a Northern Athletics Conference match-up to visiting Alverno College by a score of 63-44 inside Sadoff Gymnasium, this evening, Feb. 7.

Rissa Cerveny led all scorers with 26 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome the all-around effort by the upstart Inferno. Devon Gorman paced Alverno with 19 points and a game-high 14 rebounds as her team scorched the nets in the first half by shooting nearly 60 percent in the first half and staved off a furious Marian comeback to go away with the comfortable road win.

Alverno improved to 14-9 overall, 11-5 in the NAC with the win, while Marian fell to 4-19 (3-13 NAC) with the loss.

The Inferno led wire-to-wire, but used an efficient first half to set the tone. Gorman had a double-double in the first half with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Inferno shot 14-for-24 from the field and held a nine-rebound advantage on the glass on the way to a commanding 36-18 lead at the break.

The second half was much of the same, except for an 18-4 run by the Sabres midway through the period, fueled by Cerveny's prowess offensively. The freshman was responsible for 11 points during the run that cut the Inferno lead to 49-38.

It wasn't long before Alverno was able to push the lead back up to as many as 24 points after a 14-1 run of its own.

Kristen Speerschneider added 13 points and six rebounds, while Kaitlin Schaeren chipped in 10 off the bench. The Inferno ou-trebounded the Sabres, 40-26, and outscored Marian, 40-14, in the paint.

Marian shot just 27.3 percent (15-for-55) in the contest, going just 6-for-28 (21.4 percent) in the first half.

The Sabres will take to the road this Saturday, Feb. 9, to face host Benedictine University in their final NAC road battle. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. from Lisle, Ill.