Feb. 15, 2017 – A continued battle for a home game in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament and five points in the battle for the River Forest Rivalry Cup were both in play tonight for the Concordia-Chicago women's basketball team as they faced local rival Dominican University at the Igini Sports Forum. It was a rugged and frustrating battle for three quarters, but Concordia exploded for a 28-11 fourth quarter and beat Dominican by a 75-64 final.

The Stars drew first blood as Claudia DeNigris hit a long three and began an opening 11-3 run. Erin Jacobsen stopped the bleeding with a three-point play, and Taylor Jacobsen capitalized on a Stars' turnover by hitting a 12-foot jumper to pull CUC back within three.

A three by Annika Rae and a baseline jumper by Crystal Corr enabled the Cougars to catch the Stars at 13-13. However, Dominican ended the quarter with a 7-2 run, capped off by a Shamia Clark three at the buzzer to lead 20-15 after one.

Concordia started the second quarter better off as Miranda Rogers hit a three, and Sarah Smithcashed in two free throws for a 20-20 tie.  After the Stars scored twice, Courtney Lofink equaled with a layup, steal and a second layup, but the Cougars could still not get over the hump as Tamiya Ray's jumper put the hosts back into the lead.

Dominican led by five late in the quarter before Rogers hit her second triple and Smith tied it on a layup. The Stars scored inside to regain a lead, and the Cougars missed a three in the final seconds as Dominican took a 33-31 lead into the half.

Shooting percentages for the half were even at 39 percent, but the Stars had eight more shots from the field and a rebounding advantage of 26-15. Ray was the big weapon for DU in the half with 14 points while Rogers and T. Jacobsen had six each to lead CUC.

The Cougars figured to come out for the second half with a renewed focus, but it was the Stars beginning with another run, this one of 12-4 that was capped by another three from Clark. However, Rogers restored some balance with a three, the 166^th of her career to tie the all-time CUC record for made threes. The Cougars made a mini-run as T. Jacobsen hit a jumper and Lofink a layup following a steal, but the story remained the same as they could not get close enough to get past the Stars. Orr hit a late three, but Dominican still led 53-47 after three.

Finally, the beginning of the fourth quarter saw the Cougars repay their fans' patience as the defense turned the game 180 degrees. T. Jacobsen began the proceedings with a layup before Rogers connected for her record-setting three at the 8:49 mark. Corr then converted a layup less than a minute later for CUC's first lead of the game at 54-53. Clark briefly regained the lead for Dominican, but when E. Jacobsen hit two free throws on the next trip down, there would be no letting go of the lead this time.

The Cougars kept going with the next nine points, capped off by Smith's putback for a 65-55 lead. Orr then sealed this one away with a couple of threes from the left corner to put an exclamation point on the Cougars' 14^th win in conference and 15^th win overall.

Despite the win the Cougars will face a must-win game on Saturday for all practical purposes if they are to play at home next week. The Cougars will host Concordia University Wisconsin on Saturday at 2 p.m.