Box Score

REDLANDS, Calif. - Ripon nearly completed a tremendous comeback Friday night in their first game of the Redlands (Calif.) Tournament. Trailing by 18 points to Chapman University with 10 and a half minutes to play, the Red Hawks came back to cut that lead to two in the final seconds, before a potential game-winning shot bounced off the rim, sealing Ripon's fate in a 71-69 defeat. That drops the Red Hawks' season record to 3-6, with four of those six losses coming by four points or less.

The game started off neck-and-neck with the two teams trading baskets. Chapman (6-3) then took control, scoring 14 consecutive points to take a 20-4 lead halfway through the first half. Ripon cut that lead to nine late in the half, but went into halftime trailing by 11, thanks in part to shooting 32 percent (11-34) in the period while allowing Chapman to convert 52 percent (14-27) of their second half shots. 

The second half saw both teams shoot at least 50 percent from the field. Jill VanEperen tried to will the Red Hawks to victory, scoring 20 of her team-high 22 points in the final 20 minutes. Ripon trailed by double-digits for the majority of the half until a Kacie Cullen 3-pointer cut Chapman's lead to seven with under five minutes remaining, which was part of a 20-7 run by the Red Hawks in a six and a half minute span. Cullen would later hit a shot that pulled Ripon to within three, which was followed by a pair of VanEperen free throws to cut the lead to a single point with 38 seconds remaining. After a Chapman free throw, Ripon had a chance to win it, but couldn't convert a buzzer-beater.

Cullen was second on the team with 18 points, making 3-of-5 shots from 3-point range, while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Chelsea Sorbo tied a career-high with 11 points off the bench, to go along with five rebounds.

Chapman received 57 of the team's 71 points from Kimi Takaoka and Sandra Gao, who shot a combined 57 percent (20-35) from the field and 94 percent (16-17) from the free throw line. Chapman's bench was outscored by Ripon's reserves, 21-5, while the Red Hawks also outscored Chapman in second chance points, 21-2.

Ripon will finish their California trip on Saturday against the host of the tournament, the University of Redlands. That game will begin at 9 p.m. Central Time and can be seen live, along with LiveStats at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/redlands.portal#.