RIPON, Wis. -,Facing one of their toughest tests of the season Wednesday night, Ripon was able to hang with #22 St. Norbert for the first 20 minutes, outshooting the Green Knights in the opening half, before trailing by nine at halftime. The second half was a different story however, as St. Norbert cruised to a 62-39 victory during a game in which Ripon never led.

St. Norbert (6-1, 3-0 MWC) began the night by scoring nine of the game's first 11 points. Ripon (1-4, 1-1 MWC) then went on a 7-2 run of their own, capped by a Megan Jensen jumper, to cut the Green Knight's lead to two. St. Norbert then promptly finished the half on a 13-6 run to end the half and put some distance between them.

The Green Knights added some more distance to the deficit in the second half, extending their lead to 18 mid-way through the second half. That lead would grow to 20 points or more for the final nine minutes, with their largest lead of 26 coming at the six minute mark.

Ripon shot 32 percent (15-47) from the field in the game and were outscored in the paint, 34-18. Jonalee Elliott scored a team-high 10 points in 23 minutes off the bench, shooting 5-of-10 from the field, and pulling down four rebounds. Jensen added eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.

St. Norbert converted 52 percent (14-27) of their second half shots after making just 35 percent (9-26) of their first half shots. They were led by Mallory Nickerson's 14 points in 16 minutes off the bench. Brianna Byrne added 12 points, while Jill Kleiman scored 11, to go along with a game-high four steals. The Green Knights forced 20 turnovers, while committing just 11 miscues.

The Red Hawks will be back in action Saturday at Cornell College. That game will begin at 1 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Iowa and can be seen live at,http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.