Even with Thanksgiving just a couple of days away, the Benedictine University women's basketball team has two games at the Dan and Ada Rice Center on the schedule this week. BenU hosts North Central College on Wednesday night and Edgewood College on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Despite playing some close contests in the early part of the season, the Eagles sit at 0-4. Over the weekend, the team dropped two games at the Manchester University Main View Tipoff Tournament, falling to host Manchester 57-53 and to Capital University 65-52. With 12 rebounds and 41 points on 54% shooting (57% from three) over the two games, Vincenza Ranallo was named to the All-Tournament team.
  
Benedictine hosts one of Division III's most unique teams in North Central on Wednesday. The Cardinals use a high-pressure defensive system and an offense predicated around the three-point shot, with 16 different players earning minutes in both of the team's victories. As a result, the Cardinals have cracked the century mark in both contests, defeating Saint Mary's College (Indiana) 100-84 on Friday and Millsaps College 117-115 in double overtime on Saturday. Both contests took place at North Central, as the program hosted the Chicago Marriott Naperville Tipoff Tournament this past weekend.
 
On the season, North Central has taken 139 three-point shots in the two games compared to just seven from its opponents. 65% of the team's shot attempts are three-pointers, and the team has made just 21% of those (29-for-139). The team has ran the offensive system for the last two seasons, going 24-27 (10-18 in conference play) and defeating Benedictine both years. Last season, the Cardinals topped BenU 102-98 in Naperville despite 20 points from Vincenza Ranallo, 19 points from Meghan Novak, 15 points and 10 assists from Alanna Ferry, and 13 points and 10 rebounds from Nicole Botich.
  
The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference's two "Eagles" schools will oppose each other on Saturday, as the BenU Eagles and Edgewood Eagles square off in Lisle. After dropping the first two games of the season at the University of Dubuque Tipoff Tournament to host Dubuque and Loras College, Edgewood opened up the home and NACC schedule with a 59-44 win over Alverno College on Thursday. Before the matchup against BenU, Edgewood will have a tough test on Tuesday, as the team will host fifth-ranked UW-Oshkosh.
 
Edgewood has been one of the better teams in the NACC over the past two seasons, compiling a 24-14 conference record. Last season, Edgewood qualified as the fourth seed in the NACC Tournament, defeating BenU 63-45 in the first round before falling to Wisconsin Lutheran College. BenU has not defeated Edgewood since 2011 winning in the first round of that season's conference tournament. Edgewood has taken the last five matchups in the series.