Off the heels of two close losses last week, Benedictine University women's basketball (1-4, 1-1) is back in action this week. The team will take on rival Aurora on Tuesday night (7:00 p.m.) on the road and conference foe Concordia-Wisconsin on Saturday (7:15 p.m.) at home.

Benedictine's two losses last week came by a combined total of five points. On Tuesday, the Eagles fell 102-98 in a fast-paced game at North Central. The Cardinals used a pressure style of basketball predicated around outside shooting to defeat the Eagles, taking 63 three-pointers and coming back from a 14 point deficit. Vincenza Ranallo (20 points), Meghan Novak (19 points), Alanna Ferry (15 points, 10 assists), and Nicole Botich (13 points, 10 rebounds) all scored in double figures for the Eagles.

Saturday's loss came at the hands of Edgewood 57-56. After Briana Hamilton sunk two free throws to put BenU up one with eight seconds remaining, Edgewood's Rachel Pope hit a two-pointer with two seconds left to give Edgewood the one-point win. For Benedictine, Hamilton recorded a career-high 22 points and is now averaging in double figures on the season (10.0 points per game).

Aurora (1-4, 0-1) is coming off of a rough 7-18 campaign in which the team lost its final six games. Two of those losses came at the hands of the Eagles, as Benedictine defeated AU 64-45 and 65-46. BenU's defense was particularly strong in both contests, holding the Spartans to just 29 and 35 percent shooting respectively. The BenU-AU rivalry is one the Eagles have controlled in recent years. Head Coach Kristen Gillaspie has never lost to the Spartans (4-0), and AU's last win in the rivalry came back on January 25, 2011.

Thus far this season, the teams share one common opponent. Monmouth defeated both Aurora and Benedictine on the road, beating Aurora by 12 and Benedictine by 17. Senior guard Shay Jenkins, who scored 19 points in the two games against BenU last season, leads Aurora at 14.2 points per game and is seventh in the NACC in scoring. The Spartans are last in the conference in scoring, averaging just 56.8 points per contest.

Benedictine returns to Lisle on Saturday for a contest against a Concordia-Wisconsin (5-0, 2-0) team that's off to a terrific start. Traditionally a NACC powerhouse, the Falcons have never missed the conference tournament, won three regular season and division championships, and won two conference tournament championships. CUW figures to compete for a conference title yet again this season, as the team was picked to finish second in the NACC pre-season poll.

While CUW figures to be strong, Benedictine could be a tough test. BenU was picked just one spot behind the Falcons in the same poll and has held teams to just 39 percent shooting this season. That could pose problems for the Falcons, who despite the 5-0 start, have shot just 37 percent from the floor in the early going. The Eagles fell to the Falcons 69-53 last season despite Kam Haifleigh (11 points) and Sierra Dunner (10 points, seven rebounds) both scoring in double figures.

Both of this week's games will be broadcasted at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/benu.portal#. Wednesday's road game will be audio only, while Saturday's home game will also feature live video.