MONMOUTH, Ill. - Ripon's women's basketball team led from start to finish Friday night, en route to a 70-63 victory at Monmouth College, helping the Red Hawks remain in sole possession of first place in the Midwest Conference standings and earning a season sweep of the Fighting Scots for the second consecutive year. Ripon shot 51 percent (25-49) from the field, while holding Monmouth to just 33 percent (15-45) shooting.

The Red Hawks (8-5, 6-1 MWC) got off to a hot start, making their first three shots in the first two minutes of the opening quarter, including 3-pointers by freshmen Natalie Geiger and Molly Cullinane, to give Ripon a quick 8-0 lead. Ripon led 16-10 after one quarter, before scoring the first eight points of the second quarter, giving them a 14-point advantage.

After Monmouth (5-9, 2-5 MWC) cut the lead to six at halftime, Ripon again started a quarter with the hot hand, going on a 10-3 run to take a 13-point lead mid-way through the period. Monmouth was able to cut the lead to six with one and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter, but that's as close as they would get, as Ripon converted all four of their free throws in the game's final minute.

Junior Maggie Oimoen led Ripon with 18 points and 11 rebounds, which marks the eighth double-double of her career. Jonalee Elliott added a career-high 16 points, to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Geiger also scored a career=high with 11 points, while Emma McDonald recorded a game-high four steals, and also extended her streak of consecutive games with at least one made 3-pointer to 15, dating back to last season.

Monmouth was led by Becca Gallis, who scored 23 points off the bench on 5-of-11 shooting, which included a 3-for-6 performance from 3-point range. Carley Turnbull added nine points for the Fighting Scots, while Allie Meyers scored eight.

Ripon will be in action again on Saturday when they'll travel to Cornell College. That game will begin at 3 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/. The winner of that game will have sole possession of first place in the MWC standings.