FOND DU LAC, Wis. (Sabreathletics.com) – The Marian University women's basketball team returned to action today, Jan.17, looking to bounce back to their winning ways as the welcomed the second place Benedictine Eagles to the Sadoff Gymnasium.  After fighting from behind for most of the day, the Sabres were in position to turn things around down four points with just under four minutes remaining, but sharp shooting from the Eagles held off the Sabres to hand them a 63-51 setback.

From the start, the Eagles (9-6, 9-1 NACC) consistently responded to the Sabre's (9-7, 5-6 NACC) attack. After gaining an early nine-point lead five minutes in, the Eagles never released momentum to the Sabres. Late in the half the Sabres tied it up at 28 off a jumper from Olewinski, but a layup by the Eagles gave them the lead going into halftime.

Coming out of the break the Eagles gained a seven-point cushion after a quick three and a jumper from Briana Hamilton. Once again the Sabres found themselves fighting for a lead that they were never able to grab ahold of. Benedictine outscored the Sabres 33 to 23 in the period to come away with the 12 point win.

The Eagles shot over 63 percent from the floor in the second half, going 12-of-19 while attempting only two three-pointers. Benedictine senior, Vincenza Ranallo, led the second half surge for the Eagles with eight points and finished with 13-points on the night. She was one of three Eagles to finish with double-digits as Meghan Novak finished with a team high 18-points and Nicole Botch scored 11.

The Sabres shot consistent on the day, finishing at 36.4 percent on 20-of-55 shooting. Sarah Olewinski scored a game-high 19 points, shooting 8-of-10 from the floor and going 1-2 from beyond the arc. Hunter Godfroy also played a large role, scoring a season-high nine points for the Sabres on 4-of-6 shooting in 26 minutes of action.

The Sabres continue their final stretch of conference games when they travel to Milwaukee on Tuesday, Jan.20, to take on the Raiders for their first of three road games in-a-row. Tipoff is set for 7 pm.