RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's women's basketball team outscored Carthage 24-12 in the final quarter Saturday to escape with a 57-54 victory to remain undefeated on the young season. Ripon shot 36 percent (19-53) from the field, while Carthage made 31 percent (17-55) of their shots.

The first half was a seesaw battle that featured nine lead changes. Neither team led by more than five in the first quarter, with Carthage taking a 13-12 lead into the second period. After Carthage's Autumn Kalis made the first basket of the second quarter to take a three-point lead, Ripon scored the next six, taking a three-point lead on a jumper by Alyassa Burgess. Carthage would score the final five points in the half to take a four-point halftime lead as an Amanda Larson layup beat the buzzer.

The third quarter continued to be neck-and-neck, until the final three and a half minutes, which saw Carthage score the final eight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Kalis. Ripon cut that lead to three on an Alison Leslie 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter, which was the beginning of 10-2 run that cut Carthage's lead to a single point mid-way through the final frame. Another Kalis 3-pointer put Carthage up by four with three and a half minutes remaining, but Ripon battled back to tie the game at 50 with two minutes on the clock. After a pair of Carthage free throws gave them the lead momentarily, Leslie connected on another 3-pointer to give the Red Hawks the lead for good, outscoring Carthage 14-5 in the final three and a half minutes.

Burgess led Ripon with a career-high 16 points, to go along with nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and one steal. Leslie added 11 points off the bench, while fellow freshman Kiana Fall also scored 11, along with a game-high five assists.

Carthage was led by Kalis' 24 points, as she made 5-of-10 3-pointers. Sammie Woodward added nine points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while Maggie Berigan led all players with 10 rebounds.

Ripon will hope to continue their undefeated streak to start the season on Tuesday when they'll host Edgewood College at 6 p.m. at Weiske Gymnasium in Ripon. That game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.