The Dominican University women's basketball played three solid quarters before the Benedictine University Eagles pulled away in a 72-55 loss for the Stars on Saturday afternoon at the Dan and Ada Rice Center in Lisle, Illinois.  The Stars led by two at the break and trailed by just three, 46-43, after three quarters before Dominican managed just three field goals in the fourth quarter while Benedictine put up 26 points.
 
"We played three decent quarters," said Amanda Parker, the Stars' head women's basketball coach. "Then we went away from what was working and lost all of our focus in the fourth. Our rotations were a step slow and we made too many unforced turnovers. We have to find a way to minimize unnecessary mistakes. The really good teams in this league take advantage of those—which we saw today."
 
Timiya Ray scored all 15 of her team-high 15 points in the first half on 7-for-13 shooting.  The junior finished with eight rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes of work.  Hannah Currant added ten points, reaching double-figures for the fifth time in the last seven games.
 
As a team, the Stars shot 21-for-63 from the field, including 5-for-17 from three, but turned the ball over 19 times and were out-rebounded, 47-40, giving up 13 offensive rebounds to the Eagles which led to 18 second-chance points.
 
For Benedictine, Alex Fanning scored a game-high 27 points on 8-for-11 shooting and going 11-for-14 at the foul line.  The freshman pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds for her second double-double against the Stars this season.  Allison Michalski added 15 points in the winning effort.
 
Dominican, now 12-8 on the season and 8-7 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), return to the court on Wednesday, hosting the Edgewood College Eagles for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff at the Igini Sports Forum.