Box Score
APPLETON, Wis. - As the winter temperature cools down outside, Ripon's women's basketball team is heating up. The Red Hawks extended their season-long winning streak to three games Tuesday night, defeating Lawrence University 56-38, and leaving head coach Julie Johnson just one victory shy of 300 for her career.
Ripon (6-9, 5-5 MWC), who never trailed in the game, led by single digits until the six minute mark in the first half when Kacie Cullen connected on a 3-pointer to give the Red Hawks a 19-8 lead. Ripon ended the half on an 11-4, capped by a 3-pointer from Sia Gonyo, to take an 18-point lead at intermission.
The Red Hawks picked up where they left off in the second half, as Kelly Van Berkel scored a layup on the team's first possession of the period. Ripon never trailed by less than 18 in the half, while taking their largest lead of 28 on a layup by Gonyo with under 12 minutes to play.
For the second consecutive game, Ripon tied a season-low with 16 turnovers. They outscored Lawrence in the paint, 34-6, while holding a 25-9 advantage over the Vikings in points off turnovers. For the fifth time in the last six games, Erin Lind led the Red Hawks in scoring, posting 13 points, to go along with team-highs of five rebounds, six steals and two blocked shots. With that performance, Lind passes Janine Emmer '05 for sixth on the school's career scoring list and third on the all-time blocked shots list. Jill Van Eperen added 11 points and five steals, while Gonyo added nine points and a game-high four assists.
Lawrence (1-13, 0-9 MWC) was led by team-highs of 12 points, eight rebounds and four steals from Alex Deshler. Kassidy Rinehart added nine points on 3-of-4 shooting. The Vikings shot just 28 percent (12-43) from the field, including 21 percent (4-of-19) in the first half.
The Red Hawks' win sets up a huge conference matchup in Ripon on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Grinnell, as the Red Hawks currently sit one game behind the Pioneers in the MWC standings. A win would give Ripon head coach Julie Johnson both her 300th career and 200th Midwest Conference victory. The game also doubles as Alumni Day with the women's Alumni Game tipping off at approximately 9:45 a.m.
