Benedictine (5-6, 1-0 NIIC) won its first game this season when it trailed at the break; it lost its first five games this season when it had a halftime deficit. The Eagles won despite the fact that they went scoreless for nine minutes, spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second stanza.
Neither team led by more than four points for the first 10 minutes of the game until Rockford (9-4, 0-1 NIIC) scored five straight points on an Angie Butler lay-up and a Kristi Strunz 3-pointer to open up a 21-14 advantage. Down 23-16, Benedictine's Sarah McNicholas converted on a conventional three-point play to get the Eagles to within four, and Liz Fredlund knocked down a jumper to get her team to within two (23-21).
Rockford was held out of the scoring column for four minutes before Paula Jones knocked down a 3-pointer with just under four minutes left. That was the final scoring for either team the rest of the half, however, as they combined to miss 11 shots from the field heading into the break. Rockford led 26-21 at intermission.
After the visiting Regents scored the first three points of the second half, Amanda Burditt finally broke the hosts' nine-minute dry spell with a 3-pointer, and hit another trey two possessions later to get the Eagle deficit down to 31-27. Megan Walczak followed a pair of Kristina Dorman free throws with a triple from the top of the key, starting a 16-4 run that gave the Eagles the lead for good. A jumper by Katie Kunkel gave the hosts their first lead since the early stages of the game (34-33).
After two more Dorman freebies got Rockford to within a point (36-35), Curtis took over for Benedictine on the offensive end, scoring all of 11 of her second-half points in the final 11 minutes of the game. She sandwiched a Dana Sullivan 3-pointer with a pair of scores that lifted the Benedictine lead to 43-37. After Jones hit a 3-pointer to cut the Regent deficit to 52-48 with more than four minutes left, Curtis scored the first five points of a short 7-0 run that got her team's lead into double figures at 59-48. The visitors scored only one basket the rest of the way.
Curtis scored in double figures for the seventh straight game with her 13 points, and added seven boards, two assists, two blocks and a game-high four steals. Burditt finished with 10 points and three thefts, while McNicholas just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds while dishing out four assists with only one turnover.
Dorman, the NIIC's leading scorer entering the game, finished with 19 points, 14 of which came after the break. Despite Dorman's game-high total, Fredlund helped keep her in check while finishing with eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks (all career highs). Jones joined Dorman in double figures for Rockford with 13 points.
Benedictine overcame 33% shooting from the floor by committing a season-low 15 turnovers. The Eagles came up with 13 steals off of Rockford's 24 miscues. The Regents only managed 34% shooting themselves, making just 7-of-21 shots after the break.
Benedictine continues NIIC play on Saturday, Jan. 8, when it visits Dominican University. Rockford will host Aurora University on the same day.