Box Score

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - With 11 seconds left in Tuesday's game, Ripon looked like it would escape with a close victory, as Sia Gonyo drained a 3-pointer to give Ripon a one-point lead. That excitement would be short-lived however, as Lake Forest answered with a jumper by Danielle Canulli with four seconds remaining. Ripon had one last desperation heave, but it would not fall, giving the Foresters a 65-64 victory.

Early on, the game didn't look like it would come down to the final seconds. Lake Forest scored eight consecutive points to take a 13-4 lead just five minutes into the contest, giving them the largest lead of the game for either team. Ripon then rallied with 11 consecutive points of their own, which included a pair of Gonyo 3-pointers. The Foresters would make another mini-run to go up by six, but Ripon again answered with 3-pointers by Gonyo and Kacie Cullen. The score stayed within one possession the rest of the half, with Cullen burying a three just before halftime to break a tie as the teams headed to the locker rooms.

The Red Hawks held the lead for the first six and a half minutes of a second half that saw five lead changes. Lake Forest led by eight with six minutes remaining and by five with two minutes to play, setting the stage for the flurry of points in the final seconds.

Gonyo finished with a career-high 20 points, while making six 3-pointers, which ranks second in school history for a single game and is just one shy of the school record. Cullen and Jill VanEperen each finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three steals. That gives VanEperen 191 career steals, which moves her into third place in program history and is just nine shy from becoming the second Red Hawk to reach 200.

Lake Forest was led by 21 points from Sam Schuring, which put her over 1,000 for her career, while also recording six steals. Canulli finished with 11 points and four rebounds. The Forester bench outscored Ripon's reserves, 16-0.

Ripon will try to snap their current three-game slide on Saturday when they'll travel to Illinois College, with their postseason hopes hanging in the balance. That game will begin at 3 p.m. in Jacksonville, Ill. and can be seen live on http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal#.