RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon women's basketball team led for the first 38 minutes of Saturday's game against conference-leading Cornell College, but couldn't hang on, as a late surge by the Rams propelled them to a 58-55 win over the Red Hawks. One of the top defensive teams in Division-III, Cornell scored 20 points off 24 Ripon turnovers.

Ripon (8-5, 6-2 MWC) began the game firing on all cylinders, getting out to a 20-4 lead mid-way through the first quarter. Cornell (10-3, 8-0 MWC) cut that lead to 12 at the end of that period, and would go to halftime still trailing by eight. The Red Hawks finished the first half shooting 43 percent (14-32), while Cornell converted 36 percent (9-25) of their shots.

The second half was a different story with Cornell shooting 40 percent (10-25) and Ripon making 28 percent (7-25) of their field goals. That helped the Rams climb back into the game. After taking an 11-point lead on a jumper by Jonalee Elliott with less than two minutes left in the third quarter, Cornell scored nine consecutive points to cut the lead to two with under eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Ripon would go up by five with under five minutes to play, but Cornell battled back again, tying the score at 52 with two and a half minutes left. The Rams then scored five consecutive points, but an Emma McDonald 3-pointer cut that lead to two with 49 seconds on the clock. After a Cornell free throw, Ripon had one final chance to tie the game with under 10 seconds remaining, but they couldn't convert.

Maggie Oimoen and Eleanore Mueller each recorded a double-double for the Red Hawks. Oimoen led the team with 14 points and 11 rebounds (four offensive), while Mueller posted 11 points and 11 boards (five offensive).

Cornell was led by Diamond Boyd, who recorded a double-double of her own with team-highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds (four offensive). Anne Visser added 14 points off the bench.

The Red Hawks now find themselves in a three-way tie for second place in the MWC standings. They will face one of the teams they are tied with on Wednesday, as they'll host St. Norbert College at 5:30 p.m. in Ripon. That game will be a Blackout game in which all fans in attendance are asked to wear black.