The Dominican University women's basketball team picked up a much needed Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) win on Tuesday night, topping the Alverno College Inferno, 62-51, at the Igini Sports Forum.  The win pushes the Stars to 1-2 in the NACC and 4-3 on the season, the Stars' best start through seven games since the 2011-2012 season.
 
Timiya Ray led three in double-figures scoring for Dominican, pouring in 18 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field in 34 minutes.  Amari Stafford finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Katie Uzoras added ten points and six boards in just 17 minutes.
 
"Tonight was a great bounce back game for our team," said Dominican's Gabby Johnson. "We talk about not dropping two games in a row and we made sure that didn't happen tonight. It was a physical battle, but our kids grinded it out for 40 minutes. I'm extremely proud of our execution.  Our ability to win the rebounding battle set us up for success tonight."
 
After the Stars opened an early 11-point advantage, the Inferno raced back, erasing the Dominican lead and pulling ahead, 27-26, on Kendra Patterson's jumper with 1:42 to play in the second quarter.  The Stars scored the final four points of the half, capped by Alexis Hoskins' driving lay in the final five seconds of the quarter.
 
In the third quarter, the teams traded baskets with the Stars ending the quarter with a four-point, 42-38, advantage heading into the final period.  In the fourth, it was a tremendous effort on the boards with Dominican out-rebounding the Inferno 15-9 in the quarter.  Ray and freshman Stephenee Huggans scored six points apiece in the fourth while Amari Stafford chipped in five, going 5-for-6 at the foul line.
 
The Stars shot 40-percent (25-62) from the field while holding Alverno to a 36-percent clip from the field (21-58).  Dominican had a large advantage on the glass, pulling down 47 rebounds to the Inferno's 31 including 21 offensive boards for the Stars.
 
Karli Selear led the Inferno, scoring a game-high 23 points on 8-for-19 shooting and going 5-for-7 at the foul line.
 
Dominican heads back on the road, traveling to Mequon, Wisconsin, on Saturday for a game at Concordia University Wisconsin.  The Stars and Falcons are set to tipoff at 4:15 p.m.