BELOIT, Wis. - Ripon's women's basketball team led for the final three quarters Wednesday night, en route to a 65-55 victory at Beloit College. The Red Hawks shot 45 percent (23-51) from the field in the game, including 48 percent (11-23) in the second half.

Ripon (4-3, 2-1 MWC) led for the final 29 minutes of the game, but it was Beloit who jumped on the scoreboard first, taking a 4-0 advantage in the opening minutes and leading for the first seven and a half minutes.The Buccaneers led by as many as eight when Lara Panicali made a 3-pointer mid-way through the first quarter. As good as Beloit was in the early going, Ripon was even better in the second quarter, outscoring the Buccaneers 20-6 in the period to take a 33-19 halftime lead.

The Red Hawks continued to lead by double digits in the third quarter, taking an 18-point lead on a jumper by Maddie Koster just three minutes into the half. That was followed by a 14-2 Beloit run to cut the lead to six points in the final minute of the third quarter. Ripon again extended their lead to 16 in the final quarter, but Beloit answered back again, pulling within seven with under one minute remaining. Ripon then calmly sank their final three free throws to seal the game.

Ripon was led by Maggie Oimoen's 14 points and nine rebounds (four offensive), while Eleanore Mueller finished with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, to go along with six boards. Koster also chipped in with 10 points and five steals.

Nora Polaski led Beloit with 15 points and six rebounds, while Panicali and Shelby Kline finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The road-weary Red Hawks will play their first home game of the season on Saturday when they'll host Knox College. That game will begin at 1 p.m. at Storzer Center in Ripon and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.