The Dominican University women's basketball team shot a season-best .550 from three, connecting on 11 of 20 attempts from long distance, to shoot past the Aurora University Spartans, 89-75, on the road.  The win snaps a two-game losing skid for the Stars and improves their overall record to 13-6, 9-5 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC).
 
"This was a good team win for us," said Amanda Parker, the Stars' head women's basketball coach. "Numerous people contributed, especially on the offensive end. With that said, we have many parts of the game that need to be better, especially taking care of the basketball."
 
Alisha Markley paced the Stars, pouring in 17 of her team-high 22 points in the first half.  Making just her second start of the season, Markley connected on four of her first five shots, including each of her first three attempts from long range, helping the Stars open a 25-21 lead after one quarter.
 
In the second period, Markley and senior Timiya Ray helped Dominican grow its lead, combining for 11 points as the Stars outscored the Spartans 21-13 in the frame to extend their lead to 46-34 at the break and never looked back.
 
Dominican built its lead all the way up to 20 by the end of the third and then opened their largest lead of the night when Alexis Hoskins converted a layup to put Dominican on top 75-53 early in the fourth quarter.
 
Aurora tried to make a push, using a 15-4 run that spanned a little over five minutes, but the Stars stopped the run and sealed the game, going 5-for-6 from the foul line in the final two minutes.
 
Markley led a very balanced Dominican offense with five finishing in double digits. Ray chipped in 17 points while Hoskins finished with 16.  Stephenee Huggans and Hannah Currant both came off the bench to score 11 and ten respectively while Amari Stafford finished the night with nine points in 34 minutes. 
 
As a team, the Stars shot 32-for-62 from the field, the first time all season they have shot at a clip better than fifty-percent.  Dominican also controlled the glass, out-rebounding the Spartans 37-31, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds and scoring 13 second chance points.
 
Aurora's offense featured Meija Rabi who scored a game-high 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting.  Julie Galauner finished with 12 while Savannah Jackson scored 11 points in 11 minutes.
 
Dominican will return to the Igini Sports Forum on Saturday, hosting the Alverno College Inferno for a 4:15 p.m. tipoff.  With six games remaining on the 2019-20 season, the Stars stand in fifth place in the NACC standings.