River Forest, Illinois -

Trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, the Concordia women's basketball team rallied to within one point of Dominican by halftime in Thursday's NAC Tournament Semifinal. That momentum carried into the second half, where the Falcons shot 65.6% from the field and outscored the Stars 51-35 to pull off an 81-64 upset.

All five of the Concordia starters registered at least 10 points, with Kendall Kerns leading the way with a 19 point, 12 rebound performance. With the three-point shot off the mark all night for both teams, Kerns became critical inside and finished 9-of-15 from the field.

Tiffany Hendrickson and Becky Gifford each added 15 points apiece, while Katie Luethe notched 12 points and Mel Kulibert added 10. The Falcons finished 34-for-65 from the field (52.3%) and held Dominican to 44.3% shooting (27-61). Concordia also won the rebounding battle 35-33.

As the third seed, the Falcons (19-8) have advanced to the NAC Tournament Championship at top seeded Wisconsin Lutheran (who beat Benedictine 78-70 in their semifinal). The winner of Saturday's 2pm contest will receive the conference's automatic qualification to the D3 NCAA Tournament.

Concordia won at Wisconsin Lutheran to capture the 2009 NAC Tournament Championship, which was the last time the Falcons qualified for the "Big Dance."