The Benedictine University women's basketball team is off to one of its best starts in program history, tied atop the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings with a 7-1 conference record. This week, the Eagles will go on the road to take on two teams in the NACC Tournament picture: Milwaukee School of Engineering on Wednesday and Marian University on Saturday.
 
Benedictine split two NACC matchups last week, losing its first conference game at Wisconsin Lutheran College on Tuesday night before defeating Concordia University Wisconsin at home on Saturday. The victory over CUW was in convincing fashion, as the Eagles shot 50% from the floor to beat a traditionally strong Falcons team 69-53. Senior guard Vincenza Ranallo put together one of her best games of the season, finishing with five rebounds, three assists, three steals, and 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting. The 11 makes and 73.3% shooting percentage are both season highs for Ranallo. In addition, senior guard Meghan Novak poured in 18 points, making nine of her ten attempts from the charity stripe.
  
The Raiders have been a team on the rise over the last few years, improving by 11 wins from the 2012-13 to the 2013-14 season. In this year's campaign, MSOE has taken the progress a step further, as the team comes into Wednesday's matchup just half a game behind the Eagles and Wisconsin Lutheran for first place in the NACC standings. Earlier this season, the Raiders won eight straight from December 6 through December 29. After a two-game losing skid on December 30 and January 3, MSOE has defeated Aurora University and Alverno College since.
 
MSOE has a roster with a nice blend of both youth and experience, with two seniors, a junior, and two sophomores in its usual starting five. The two sophomores, forward Holly Denfeld (15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds per game) and guard Shaylan Reardon (15.4 points, 2.5 assists per game) both rank in the Top 10 in the NACC in scoring, while Denfeld also ranks second in rebounding and third in field goal percentage (59.7%). As a team, the Raiders rank third in points per game (68.5) and fourth in opponents points per game (59.1).
 
BenU and MSOE split last season's matchups. The Raiders took the matchup in Lisle 76-69, shooting 45% from the floor and receiving 20 points and 11 rebounds from Denfeld. In Milwaukee, the Eagles won 66-52, jumping out to a 37-19 halftime lead and receiving 20 points from Novak on the game. BenU has won the last two matchups at MSOE, with the Raiders last defeating the Eagles at home 68-58 during the 2011-12 season.
  
After starting the season off 7-0, the Sabres have gone 2-5 since December 16. The team is just 1-4 in NACC games over that span after starting the season off 4-0, with the victory coming against 11th place Alverno College. On Saturday, Marian was upset by tenth place Rockford University 74-64 on the road, shooting just 33.3% from the floor. At 5-4 in the NACC, Marian now sits in sixth place in the conference.
 
Despite the struggles, Marian has received strong contributions from senior guard Sarah Olewinski. The point guard has recorded eight consecutive double-digit scoring games and has risen to tenth on the NACC leaderboard in points per game (13.9). In addition, she leads the conference in assists per game (3.6) and is fifth in steals per game (2.0). As a team, Marian leads the NACC in points per game allowed (56.2)
 
The Eagles and Sabres already met once this season, with BenU winning 63-50 in Lisle on January 3. In the victory, Novak led the Eagles with 23 points, while Ranallo added 12 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. BenU has won the last four meetings with Marian, as the Sabres last won against the Eagles 67-61 in Fon du Lac during the 2011-12 season.