The Dominican University women's basketball team built up an eight-point first-quarter lead but stalled in the second quarter as the Benedictine University Eagles heated up en route to a 70-52 loss for the Stars in the Igini Sports Forum on Wednesday night.
 
Opening an 18-12 lead on Jasmyn Hardin's (Cincinnati, Ohio) layup after a well-executed play to open the second quarter, the Stars managed just two free throws over the next 8:34 while the Eagles went on an 18-2 run to pull in front of the Stars 30-20 when Benedictine's Raven Willis converted a lay in despite contact from Dominican's Allie Tapanes (Winfield, Ill.).
 
Dominican's Claudia DeNigris (Addison, Ill.) buried a three with 1:18 to play in the second period to cut the lead under double-figures but the Eagles scored the final five points of the period to take a 35-23 lead at the break.
 
Benedictine then used another large run in the third to create more distance from the Stars in the third quarter and never looked back.
 
Hardin and DeNigris paced the Stars, who shot just 33 percent as a team, with 15 and 13 points respectively.  Hardin shot 5-for-8 from the field and converted on 5-of-9 from the foul line and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, narrowly missing what would have been her 11^th double-double of the season.
 
Benedictine shot just over 40 percent from the field and controlled the glass, out-rebounding the Stars 46-31 while grabbing 18 offensive rebounds.  Nicole Botich led the charge, dropping in 15 points and grabbing a game-high ten rebounds in 29 minutes.
 
The Stars, now 3-15 overall and 2-11 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), return to action in the Igini Sports Forum on Saturday, hosting the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors for a 4:15 p.m. tipoff.