Despite a season-high 30 points from freshman Katie Budz (Orland Park, Ill.) the Dominican University women’s basketball team could not hold on, falling to the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors 96-91 in overtime.

The Stars biggest lead of the night was 15, 68-53, with 11:33 to play in regulation. However, the Warriors Erika Laete proved to be too much, pouring in a game-high 50 points, 24 in the second half, to lift the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) North Division leaders past the South Division Champion Stars.

Laete scored 14 points in the final ten minutes of regulation, including an 8-foot jumper that tied the score at 80 apiece with seven seconds to play in the second half, sending the game into overtime.

In the overtime period, it was teammate Rachel Johnson’s nine points that proved to be the difference for the Warriors.

The Warriors pounded out 64 points in the paint, with Dominican’s Danielle Miller (Centralia, Ill.) and Sarah Budz (Orland Park, Ill.) both fouling out in regulation, while Dominican managed 36 points in the paint but held a 15-2 advantage in points in transition.

Katie Budz went 9-for-15 from the field, including 4-for-5 from long distance, and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line to lead four players in double-digit scoring for the Stars. Becky Christofferson (Summit, S.D.) and Magdalena Kaminska (Orland Park, Ill.) chipped in 16 points apiece while Kayla Blom (Circle Pines, Minn.) added 10 points in the losing effort.

Kaminska notched her seventh double-double of the season in adding a team-high 12 rebounds.

The loss drops the Stars to 19-6 overall heading into the NAC Tournament. On Tuesday, the Stars will host the Marian University Sabres in a quarterfinals matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM in the Igini Sports Forum.