Jan. 23, 2008

Box Score

River Forest, Ill. - The Dominican University Stars entered a last night's women's basketball game with Rockford College with just two wins in ten Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) games while the Regents sat atop the conference with an unblemished 7-0 record in conference play. However, that all changed as the Stars knocked off the NAC's top dog 72-69 in Dominican's Igini Sports Forum Tuesday evening.

The Stars opened up a 14 point lead, 29-15, with 6:39 remaining in the first half but Rockford closed out the half on a 15-5 run to pull within four at halftime. Rockford continued to chip away at the Stars lead, eventually claiming the lead at 44-43 on a lay-in by Angie Butler, the Regents leading scorer on the night with 31 points, with 14:20 remaining in the second half.

The Stars reclaimed the lead on a two-point bucket by Jessica Salinas (Bolingbrook, IL). The two teams battled back-and-forth over the next six minutes with Rockford claiming a six-point lead, their largest lead of the night, on a three-point basket by senior Chelsea Slater.

Lindsey Trent (Frankfort, IN) knocked down a pair of two point jumpers and sophomore Lisa Julkowski (Chicago, IL) connected on a three-point field goal as the Stars went on a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead 59-58 with just over five minutes to play.

Rockford opened up a three-point lead entering the final minute of play but another 4-0 run by the Stars capped by another Julkowski three-point field goal, her third three-pointer of the night, gave the Stars a 68-67 advantage with 49 seconds to play.

Senior Wioleta Koziol (Mt. Prospect, IL) and Trent each knocked down a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds to preserve the win for Dominican.

Julkowski led four Stars in double figures with 18 points on 7-for-15 shooting from the field, including three three-point field goals. Trent added 17 and Koziol scored 16 while Salinas chipped in 12 points in the winning effort. Freshman Megan Molloy (Chicago, IL) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for the Stars.

The win improved the Stars' overall record to 4-13, eclipsing the program's win total from last season with eight games remaining on the season. The Stars are now 3-8 in the NAC and return to action in the conference on Saturday as they travel to Watertown, Wis. to take on the Maranatha Baptist Bible College Crusaders. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.