Benedictine University women's basketball began the season on Saturday with a defeat, falling 66-58 to NAIA school Goshen. However, with two home games upcoming this week, the Eagles have a chance to put the loss behind them.

The week begins on Tuesday when BenU welcomes Monmouth College (2-0) to the Dan and Ada Rice Center for a 7:00 p.m. start. After starting the season with a 71-58 victory over Aurora, Monmouth defeated North Park 80-68 last night. Monmouth playing last night means it's the only time this season the Fighting Scots will play on back-to-back nights, which is something the Eagles will do just once this season as well (at the Daytona Beach Shootout in December).

Monmouth presents a tough challenge for Benedictine, as the program hasn't had a losing season since a 10-13 mark in 2005-2006, which was coach Melissa Bittner's first season at the helm. Over her eight-year tenure, the Fighting Scots have gone 114-77 (.596) and won a school record 20 games last season. Back from that team is second-team all-Midwest Conference player Marla Willard, who averaged 13.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. The Eagles are 3-0 all-time against Monmouth, with the last meeting coming back on November 26, 2000.

On Saturday, Benedictine begins Northern Athletics Conference play when Alverno visits the Rice Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip. It will be a rematch of last season's conference tournament quarterfinal game, which BenU won 53-42 behind 24 points off the bench from Meghan Novak in just 25 minutes. Benedictine also defeated Alverno 52-45 in the regular season, highlighted by 17 points and eight rebounds from Vincenza Ranallo. Both of those matchups took place in Lisle. The conference season starts a tad earlier this season, as the NACC is now moving to a 20-game schedule and one division. BenU and Alverno will also meet in Milwaukee on January 29.

This season, Alverno has yet to play a game, but will play two before taking on the Eagles on Saturday. The Inferno will travel to Illinois Tech on Tuesday night and open up NACC play at home on Thursday night against Edgewood. Back from last year's 16-10 team is all-conference first-teamer Devon Gorman, who averaged 12.6 points and 8.0 rebounds.

Winning these two games at home could be important for setting the tone in the 2013-2014 campaign following Saturday's defeat against Goshen. Benedictine had 19 points from Ranallo and 10 points from Briana Hamilton, but allowed Goshen post player Jo'Mani Thomas to record 18 points and 12 rebounds. Defending the paint will be something to look for in this week's two matchups, as the Eagles will face two offensive threats in Monmouth's Willard and Alverno's Gorman. Both games this week will be broadcast on benueagles.com.