The Dominican University women's basketball team cruised to its fifth straight victory, posting an 81-59 win over the Concordia University Chicago Cougars in the Stars' 2010-11 Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) season opener.  #Becky Christofferson# (Summit, S.D.) paced the Stars, who never trailed in the contest, scoring 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the field.

Christofferson knocked down a three on the Stars' first possession of the ballgame to give Dominican a 3-0 advantage.  Dominican extended its lead to 12-4 with over 15 minutes remaining in the first half.  The Cougars made a run over the next ten minutes, eventually evening the score at 25-25 on a pair of free throws by Maja Despot with 4:12 to play in the opening period.

Dominican answered with a 14-2 capped by a Christofferson lay in to take a 39-27 lead at the break.

Dominican shot near 47 percent (15-32) from the field in the first half, going 3-for-6 from behind the three-point arc, while holding the Cougars to 10-for-31 shooting from the field.  Christofferson tallied 13 first half points while junior guard Kayla Blom (Circle Pines, Minn.) added 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.

The Stars continued their torrid pace in the second half, extending their lead to as many as 27 along the way, outscoring the Cougars 42-32 in the half while shooting a blistering 55 percent from the field.

Christofferson's 24 points led all scorers while Blom finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals.  Magdalena Kaminska (Orland Park, Ill.) came off the bench for the Stars, scoring 10 points and pulling down six rebounds in 17 minutes.

For the Cougars, Marche Smith and Kellie Murphy shared team-high honors with 11 points apiece while Despot added ten points in the losing effort.

The win lifts the Stars to 5-1 overall, the best start in the program in over 15 years, and 1-0 in the NAC while dropping the Cougars to 1-3 on the 2010-11 campaign and 0-2 in conference play.  Dominican returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Sheboygan, Wis., to take on the Lakeland College Muskies.  The contest is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff.