The Dominican University women's basketball team led by as many as 16 points with under 16 minutes to play, but had to hold off a furious comeback attempt by the visiting MSOE Raiders and hold on for a 56-49 win in Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) action on Thursday night. The win marks the eighth straight victory for the Stars, the program's longest winning streak since the 1993-1994 season when the then-Rosary College Rebels won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) crown and made their fourth straight appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.

Dominican's Sarah Budz (Orland Park, Ill.) gave the Stars a 38-22 advantage as she knocked down the back-end of a two shot foul with 15:46 remaining in the second half. However, the Raiders scored 21 of the next 27 points to knot the game at 43-all with 3:49 to play. After exchanging buckets, Becky Christofferson (Summit, S.D.) gave the Stars the lead for good, scoring two of her team-high 16 points as Dominican closed out the game with an 11-4 run.

MSOE's Carol Cayo led all scorers on the night with a game-high 23 points. The NAC's third-leading scorer worked for her points, going 7-for-23 from the field but was 9-for-10 from the foul line. Cayo also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds in 35 minutes of work.

Christofferson, the NAC's second-leading scorer entering the night, went 5-for-12 from the field, including 2-for-6 from three-point range and has connected on at least one three in all nine games for the Stars this season. Junior teammate Kayla Blom (Circle Pines, Minn.) added ten points while Danielle Miller (Centralia, Ill.) and Katie Budz (Orland Park, Ill.) scored seven points apiece.

After shooting over 45 percent from the field in the first half, Dominican managed to shoot just 6-for-23 in the second half, going 0-for-5 from long range.

The win improves Dominican to 8-1 on the season and 4-0 in NAC play. The Stars will return to action on Saturday, hosting the Maranatha Baptist Bible College Crusaders for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff in the Igini Sports Forum.