The Dominican University women's basketball team is headed back to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament semifinals after topping the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons, 64-59, on Wednesday night at the Igini Sports Forum to open NACC Tournament play.  With the win, the Stars improve to 19-7 overall and return to the conference semifinals for the second time in as many years.
 
"It's always nice to get a win under your belt in the conference tournament," said Amanda Parker, the Stars' second-year head coach. "We played really well in stretches but also made some sloppy, undisciplined mistakes that we will need to cleanup for Friday."
 
The Stars led for nearly 35 minutes of game time, but it was the Falcons that used a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter and take a 50-45 lead with 7:24 to go.  Timiya Ray then sparked a 13-0 Dominican run with a jumper from the free throw line.  Ray scored the first seven points of the run before Stephenee Huggans scored the next six.  The run put the Stars up 58-50 with just over three minutes to play.
 
Concordia Wisconsin managed to cut the lead down to two, 61-59 in the final twenty seconds but the Stars managed to put the game away, making good on three of four attempts from the foul line in the final 16 seconds.
 
Hannah Currant came off the Stars' bench to score 16 points in 21 minutes to pace the offense.  Currant shot 7-for-11 from the field and converted on both of her attempts from the charity stripe.  The junior had a big third quarter, going for eight points in 5:40 of floor time on 4-for-4 shooting.
 
Ray finished with 15, taking over in the fourth quarter, scoring nine points on 3-for-4 shooting.  The senior added nine boards, three steals and two blocks while playing the entire 40 minutes.  Alexis Hoskins rounded out three in double-figures with 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting.
 
As a team, the Stars shot 27-for-59 from the field, just under 48 percent, while the Falcons managed to convert on just 20 of 62 attempts from the field, just over 32 percent.
 
Clara Chambers paced the Falcons, dropping in a game-high 28 points on 10-for-25 shooting, including 3-for-10 from three.
 
Dominican will travel to Lisle, Illinois, on Friday night to take on the top-seeded Benedictine University Eagles at the Dan and Ada Rice Center.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with the winner playing for the NACC Tournament championship, and the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship tournament, on Sunday.