RIPON, Wis. - What a difference a year makes. After finishing last season with a 2-21 record, the Ripon College Women's Basketball team is headed to this year's Midwest Conference Tournament.

Entering Saturday's regular season finale, the Red Hawks needed a win and a Lake Forest loss in order to advance to the MWC Tournament, and that's exactly what they got. The Red Hawks did their part by defeating Knox College 69-57, then watched as the cards fell in their favor, sending them to postseason play for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

Knox and Ripon each held the lead twice during the first half of Saturday's game, before Ripon assumed control mid-way through the second quarter with nine consecutive points to give them a 10-point advantage. A pair of free throws by Maddie Koster just before halftime gave Ripon a 41-27 lead at the break. The Red Hawks finished the first half shooting 56 percent (18-32), while Knox made just 31 percent (10-32) of their field goals.

Ripon (14-9, 10-8 MWC) led by as many as 17 in the second half, before Knox slowly crept back into the game, cutting that lead to 10 at the end of the third quarter. Knox (12-11, 7-11 MWC) capped off a 16-6 run with a Hailey Leinart 3-pointer to cut Ripon's lead to three with just over four minutes remaining. The Red Hawks then answered by scoring the game's next six points. Knox would later connect on another 3-pointer to cut the lead to six, but that's as close as it would get the rest of the day.

Ripon dominated the paint, outscoring Knox 40-20 in the lane. The Red Hawks were led by Koster's career-high 11 points, to go along with her five rebounds, three assists and four steals in 20 minutes off the bench. Jonalee Elliott added 11 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, while Nicole Herkert and Maggie Oimoen each scored 10 points. Ripon's 14 wins this year are their most since the 2009-10 season, and they enter postseason play riding a three-game winning streak, while also having won four of their last five.

Knox was led by Karlie Thorn's 16 points off the bench, which included four 3-pointers. Leinart added 15 points, while Jasmine Binion chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Red Hawks will now prepare for the MWC Tournament in which they will play number one seed St. Norbert College Friday at 8 p.m. That game will be played in De Pere, Wis. and can be seen live at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/snc/, with LiveStats available at http://www.snc.edu/athletics/teamfiles/livestats/xlive.htm.