MADISON, Wis. – Freshman Delaney Wilhelm finished with a team-high 16 points and helped lead a furious rally down the stretch, but it wasn't enough to overcome a double-digit first quarter deficit en route to a 69-58 defeat in their NACC opener against Aurora on Saturday afternoon.

Made baskets were hard to come by for an Eagle team that finished under 33 percent shooting for the second-straight game. The Eagles (2-2, 0-1 NACC) had plenty of good looks early, but couldn't convert as the Spartans (2-0, 1-0 NACC) led wire-to-wire after jumping out to an initial 15-3 lead.

After facing a 21-11 deficit through the first period, the Eagles relied on a committee of scorers to trim Aurora's lead to 33-26 going into halftime after an Allison Gordon layup. The Spartans came out firing in the final half and utilized a 16-6 run across the third and fourth quarters to push their lead to 24 points with 5:36 to go.

Despite the deficit, the Eagles showed some fight with a furious 17-2 rally that cut the deficit to nine with 12 seconds left. Wilhelm and Diamond Pikulyk each scored five points during the run, but it was too little, too late.

Gordon and Riley Larson both finished with nine points and six boards with Larson adding to her resume with a team-high three assists. Larson and the Eagle bench outscored their Aurora counterparts 30-14, but fell short against a Spartan starting unit that nearly outscored the Eagles with 55 points.

Julie Galuner paced the Spartans with a game-high 18 points and Adriana Ramirez contributed 10 points and 13 rebounds in only their second game of the year. The Spartan offense shot 44.1 percent from the field and converted nine 3-pointers in the win.

The Eagles look to snap their two-game skid with a non-conference matchup at Carroll this Tuesday, November 28 at 7:00 p.m.