Sports

Elmhurst Resident Named Coach of the Year

Michael Lane led the Stars from last place to Division champs.

The Northern Athletics Conference named Dominican University’s Michael Lane of Elmhurst the conference’s Coach of the Year in women’s basketball. Lane, Dominican’s fourth-year head coach, guided the Stars to one of the most remarkable turnarounds in NAC history, taking the team from last place in the NAC South Division at 4-14 last season to a NAC South Division Championship in 2011 with a 20-7 overall record, going 14-3 in NAC play.

The Stars’ 20 wins this season marked the program’s first 20-win season since 1994 and first since joining the NCAA Division III ranks in 2000. The team’s .741 winning percentage was the best since 1993 and fourth highest in the program. In addition, the Stars nearly completely rewrote the program’s NCAA-era record book, setting eight team season records, including points per game, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage, as well as setting the program’s single-game record for assists in a game, with 26 assists in a 31-point victory at Milwaukee School of Engineering in January.

In addition to Lane’s post-season NAC accolades, the Stars landed three players on the All-NAC first, second and honorable mention teams and had a pair of freshman named to the five-person NAC All-Freshman Team.

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Becky Christofferson of Summit, S.D., drew attention all season averaging 17.0 points per game and was named an All-NAC First Teamer. The Stars’ junior guard shot over 42 percent from the field and 38 percent from three while converting on 75 of her team-high 99 attempts from the free throw line. Christofferson scored 20 or more points five times, including a season-high 33 points in a 73-68 on-the-road NAC victory at Lakeland College.

Sarah Budz of Orland Park and Kayla Blom of Circle Pines, Minn., were named to the All-NAC Second Team and Honorable Mention Team, respectively. The Stars’ junior back-court mates ranked first and second in the conference, respectively, in assist-to-turnover ratio, with Budz leading the NAC with a near 2:1 ratio (112 assists to 57 turnovers). Blom was not far behind, averaging 4.0 assists per game with just 2.4 turnovers per game. Budz also led the Stars in rebounding, pulling down 8.1 rebounds per game while scoring 10.4 points per game.

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Blom was the Stars’ second-leading scorer, pouring in 12.4 points per game while averaging 4.0 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. The Minnesota native led the team at 32.3 minutes per game and ranked among the NAC leaders in points per game, assists per game, steals, three-point field goal percentage and three-point field goals made.

Rounding out the Stars’ postseason NAC awards were freshmen Katie Budz and Magdalena Kaminska, both of Orland Park, who represented Dominican on the NAC All-Freshman Team. Katie Budz shot over 40 percent from three, connecting on 35 of her 86 attempts from long distance. The younger Budz, like her sister Sarah, played and started all 27 games for the Stars, averaging 8.0 points per contest.

Kaminska led the Stars with seven double-doubles on the season, averaging 9.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

The Stars season came to a close in the semifinals of the NAC Tournament, falling to the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons, 81-64.  It was the Stars first appearance in the NAC Tournament since the conference's inception in 2006.


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