FOND DU LAC, Wis. – Brandi Bender scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Marian women's basketball team past Rockford 69-56 Saturday afternoon in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference action played at Sadoff Gymnasium.

Behind a pair of Nicole Paulus 3-pointers the Sabres opened the game on a 13-2 run that lasted over five minutes. Paulus led all scorers in the quarter with eight points and MU led 17-9 after the first 10 minutes of play.

The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair with Bender scoring seven points and the Sabres went into halftime with a 31-25 advantage.

The MU offense exploded to start the third quarter. A Bender 3-pointer jumpstarted a 14-2 run and the Sabres led 50-38 after three quarters of play.

The Sabres continued to find success in the fourth quarter and a Jessica Roberts 3-pointer with 7:12 remaining opened up a 57-38 lead – their largest of the game.

MU found success in front of the basket and out-rebounded RU 47-34 and scored 20 points in the paint.

Paulus finished with eight points, while Lindsay Vogels and Brittany Bauman each scored seven points.

Hunter Godfroy and Roberts came off the bench to help out with six points each.

Mallorie Getzelman scored 21 points to lead the Regents (1-6, 0-4 NACC).

Marian (4-4, 2-3 NACC) returns to the hardwood on Friday and plays host to MSOE. 

--FightBlueFight--