After the Dominican University women's basketball team scored the first point of the game, the Marian University Sabres scored 14 straight points and then held off the Stars late as Marian topped the Stars 68-60.
 
The Stars chipped away at the Marian lead throughout the evening, pulling within two, 54-52, when Claudia DeNigris (Addison, Ill.) nailed a three with 3:35 to play.  However, Marian's Nicole Paulus answered with a three at the other end of the scoring, sparking a 7-2 run for the Sabres.  Marian then hung on late, converting on nine of their ten free throws in the final 1:10 of regulation.
 
Dominican's Allie Tapanes (Winfield, Ill.) scored a team-high 19 points in the losing effort.  Tapanes shot 6-for-17 from the field, including 4-for-10 from three, in playing all 40 minutes.  Jasmyn Hardin (Cincinnati, Ohio) added 14 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds while Koraima Marroquin (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in ten points.
 
For the Sabres, Paulus led the way with 17 points while Brandi Bender added 16 in the win.
 
"This was by far the hardest we have played all season, from start to finish," commented Gabby Johnson, the Stars' head coach in her fourth season.  "It's exciting to see us take that step and I'm really excited about the rest of the season."
 
With the loss, Dominican stands at 2-13 overall and 1-9 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC).  The Stars will host the Rockford University Regents on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm. In the Igini Sports Forum.