RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon women's basketball team defeated Grinnell 69-64 Wednesday night in a hard fought battle that helped move the Red Hawks into a second place tie in the Midwest Conference standings. That also gives Ripon their best conference record to start a season (4-1) in seven years. In a game that featured five ties and 11 lead changes, the Red Hawks shot 43 percent (29-66) from the field, while holding the Pioneers to just 32 percent (19-59) shooting.

Neither team led by more than four points until Grinnell (5-5, 3-2 MWC) used an 8-1 run towards the end of the second quarter to take a seven-point lead, before taking a 33-28 lead into halftime. That lead quickly disappeared in the second half, which saw Ripon (6-4, 4-1 MWC) score the first six points. Grinnell would again take the lead for the majority of the third quarter and would take a one-point advantage into the final frame. After taking a four-point lead on a 3-pointer mid-way through the fourth quarter, Ripon scored nine consecutive points to take a five-point lead with under four minutes remaining. Ripon would secure the victory by hitting three of their final four free throws in the game's final 15 seconds.

Ripon was led by Maggie Oimoen, who tied a career high with 26 points, to go along with eight rebounds (three offensive) and two blocked shots. Jonalee Elliott added 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting off the bench, while Jensen chipped in with nine points. The Red Hawks dominated the paint all night, outscoring the Pioneers in the lane 42-20.

Kayla Morrissey led Grinnell with 19 points and six rebounds. Lydia Stariha and Kaitlyn Norton each finished with 13 points.

The Red Hawks are now just one game out of first place in the MWC standings. They will be in action again Saturday at Lake Forest College. That game will begin at 1 p.m. in Lake Forest, Ill. and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.