Box Score

RIPON, Wis. - Don't look now, but the Ripon College women's basketball team is in the thick of the Midwest Conference playoff race. The Red Hawks handed St. Norbert just their second conference loss of the season Wednesday night, defeating the Green Knights 49-43 to pull within one and a half games of the fourth and final MWC Tournament spot, with nine games still to play.

Despite winning by just six points, Ripon (5-9, 4-5 MWC) was in control for much of Wednesday's game, trailing for only four and a half minutes in the contest. The Red Hawks never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as eight points thanks to shooting 44 percent (12-27) in the period. With the score tied at eight, Ripon scored 10 of the game's next 12 points. That was followed by eight unanswered points by St. Norbert (9-4, 6-2 MWC) to tie the score at 18, but Ripon answered with six straight points of their own, which included a pair of Jill Van Eperen baskets. Leading by seven with five seconds left in the half, St. Norbert's Megan Doody drilled a 3-pointer to cut Ripon's halftime lead to four.

Ripon fell behind for the first time in the game with just under nine minutes remaining. St. Norbert's largest lead of the game was three points with six and a half minutes to play. Ripon would score seven unanswered points (four by Erin Lind and three by Van Eperen) to take a 42-38 advantage with under three minutes remaining. St. Norbert would cut that lead in half with a Lauren Carman jumper on the ensuing possession, but Ripon put the final nail in the coffin with back-to-back 3-pointers by Sia Gonyo and Kacie Cullen.

Cullen led the Red Hawks in scoring for the first time this season, recording 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Lind added 14 points on 7-of-15 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds, while Jill Van Eperen posted 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Ripon committed a season-low 16 turnovers, while outrebounding the Green Knights 37-25 (including a 13-2 advantage in offensive rebounds).

St. Norbert shot 35 percent (14-40) in the game. They were led by Doody's 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting (including 3-of-9 from 3-point range). Krista Hawkinson and Morgan Heim each added five points in the loss.

The Red Hawks will go for their third win in a row on Tuesday when they'll travel to Lawrence University in an attempt to sweep the season series against the Vikings. That game will begin at 5 p.m. in Appleton, Wis. and can be seen live on http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal#. ...