Benedictine (6-6, 2-0 NIIC) stayed on top of the league standings by jumping on host Dominican (1-12, 0-2 NIIC) early. The Eagles scored the first 11 points of the game, did not allow the Stars to score for the first five minutes of the contest, and never trailed. Curtis and Sarah McNicholas each had four points in the game-opening 11-0 run, while Amanda Burditt knocked down a trey.
After Dominican finally broke through with its first basket of the game, Benedictine scored seven of the next eight points, capped by a Dana Sullivan 3-pointer, to take an 18-3 lead. The Eagles took their biggest lead of the half at 25-8 on a Liz Fredlund lay-up with just less than nine minutes left in the first stanza. Dominican was able to cut Benedictine's halftime advantage to 32-23 with a 13-5 run over the last eight minutes of the half.
Sparked by five points from Curtis, Benedictine opened the second half with seven consecutive points to push its lead to 16 points (39-23). Four different players scored in a 9-0 spurt that increased the visitors' advantage to 22 (50-28), and the Eagles did not lead by fewer than 18 points for the final 10 minutes of the game.
Curtis nearly collected a double-double in the first half alone with nine points and 10 boards in the first 20 minutes; she established a new career high with her 15 boards, and added two assists and three blocks. McNicholas finished with 12 points, five assists and a team-high five steals, while Burditt and Katie Kunkel each added 10 points, the latter doing so off the bench.
Melissa Lounds was the lone Dominican player in double figures with 10 points, while Nicole Zuhlke added seven points and six steals off the bench.
Benedictine scored 27 points off of 27 Dominican turnovers, and held the hosts to 24.5% shooting for the game, including a 5-of-27 effort in the second half.
Benedictine begins a three-game, five-day stretch on Wednesday, Jan. 12, when it visits Clarke College for another NIIC match-up.