RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's women's basketball team led for all but 19 seconds Saturday afternoon, defeating Illinois College 72-55 in front of a host of Alumni that were back on campus for Ripon's annual Basketball Alumni Day. The Red Hawks shot 45 percent (25-56) in the game, en route to their third consecutive win, all of which have come by at least 17 points. Ripon again dominated the paint, outscoring the Lady Blues 42-18 in the lane.

Illinois College (10-7, 7-5 MWC) scored the game's first points on a free throw during their first possession, but Ripon (11-6, 9-3 MWC) answered with a jumper by Maggie Oimoen to take a lead they would not relinquish. The Red Hawks led by single digits until the end of the first quarter when they scored nine consecutive points to take a 13-point advantage. The lead was cut to three in the second quarter, before Ripon extended it to eight at halftime.

Ripon spent the majority of the second half leading by double digits thanks to holding Illinois College to just 27 percent (8-30) shooting after halftime. The Red Hawks scored the final seven points of the game during the final four and a half minutes of the fourth quarter.

Oimoen led the Red Hawks with a career-high 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting, to go along with eight rebounds (five offensive). Nicole Herkert also stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds, seven assists, two blocked shots, and one steal. Megan Jensen added 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Ripon out-rebounded Illinois College by a 46-29 margin.

Illinois College was led by 15 points from Melissa Solorio, who also pulled down five rebounds. Shannen Quehl added 13 points and five boards off the bench, while Brielle Greenleaf chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.

With the win, Ripon remains in third place in the MWC standings, one game back of St. Norbert. Those two teams will play each other on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Kress Center in Green Bay, Wis., which will be available to watch live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.