LA CROSSE, Wis. - Ripon's women's basketball game lost to UW-La Crosse Sunday afternoon by a score of 49-44, despite holding a lead with three minutes left in regulation. UW-La Crosse outscored the Red Hawks 10-4 in those final minutes.

Ripon (2-2) fell behind early as UW-La Crosse (4-2) scored the game's first five points and led 16-5 in the final minute of the first quarter. Ripon battled back to cut that lead to four mid-way through the second period when McKenzie Banasik converted a 3-pointer.

After trailing by six at halftime, Ripon cut the lead to four again on the opening possession of the third quarter, which resulted in a layup by Nicole Herkert. That was the beginning of a 14-4 run which saw Ripon take a four point lead on a Maggie Oimoen layup with less than a minute left in the quarter.

The Red Hawks continued to lead in the fourth quarter until UW-La Crosse tied the score at 39 with five minutes remaining. Ripon grabbed the lead once more, but a pair of UW-La Crosse free throws gave the Eagles the lead with three minutes to play. After Banasik tied the score at 43 with under two minutes on the clock, UW-La Crosse answered with a 6-1 lead to end the game.

Ripon shot 30 percent (17-56) from the field and 62 percent (8-13) from the free throw line. They were led by Oimoen's 13 points and eight rebounds, as she was named to the UW-L Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team. Herkert added eight points and four rebounds, while Banasik chipped in with six points and four boards off the bench.

UW-La Crosse converted 29 percent (14-49) of their shots from the field, while making 68 percent (19-28) of their free throws. Elise DeNoyer led the Eagles with a double double of 19 points and 14 rebounds. Annie Schumacher added eight points and three rebounds off the bench.

The Red Hawks will now get ready for their conference season, as they will travel to Monmouth College on Friday. That game will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Monmouth, Ill. and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.