The Dominican University women's basketball team slipped to 19-5 on the season and 14-3 in the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) with a 77-66 loss at Benedictine University on Wednesday night.  The Eagles became the first team from the NAC South Division to get the best of the Stars, with Dominican's only other conference defeats coming from the North's Wisconsin Lutheran and Concordia Wisconsin.

The Stars fell behind 13-2, going just 1-for-13 from the field in their first 11 possessions, before Kayla Blom (Circle Pines, Minn.) sparked an 18-3 run capped by Sarah Budz (Orland Park, Ill.) that put Dominican ahead 20-17 with 6:06 to play in the opening period.

With the score knotted at 31-31, Jillian Lipman's three with three seconds to play in the half gave the hosts a 34-31 advantage at the break.

With the scored tied at 53-53 with under eight minutes to play in the second half, Benedictine used a nine-point run capped by Jenn Bren's three-point play with just over five minutes remaining to take a 62-53 lead before sealing the game at the free throw line down the stretch.

Dominican was paced by Budz and Christofferson who scored 16 points apiece for the Stars.  Budz rounded out the losing effort with a game-high 12 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks and two steals in 38 minutes.

Blom added 13 for the Stars before fouling out.

Benedictine was led by Bren's game-high 20 points on 8-for-17 shooting from the field.

The Stars will return home to host the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors on Saturday in the annual NAC Challenge Game.  Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in the Igini Sports Forum.