MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - Ripon's women's basketball team extended their current win streak to five games Wednesday night with a 54-43 victory at Cornell College in what was a battle between the top two teams in the Midwest Conference. That win also keeps Ripon undefeated in conference play (7-0), marking the team's best conference record to start a year since the 2003-04 season when the team began 14-0.

Ripon (10-3, 7-0 MWC) got out to a quick start Wednesday, as they never trailed during the first half. The Red Hawks scored the first basket of the game, then proceeded to take a 15-3 lead four and a half minutes into the game. After Ripon took a 20-11 lead into the second quarter, Cornell mounted a comeback to pull within one entering halftime.

Cornell (8-5, 5-2 MWC) took their first lead of the game two and a half minutes into the third quarter, but it was short-lived, as Ripon would tie things up and grab the lead back on their following two possession. After taking a four-point lead into the final quarter, Ripon put the game away with an 11-1 run to take a 14-point advantage with four minutes remaining.

Freshman Alison Leslie led all scorers with 17 points for the Red Hawks, making 5-of-10 three-pointers. She now has 37 threes on the year, which is just four shy of the ninth-highest single season total in program history, and is shooting .521 from behind the arc, which would set a new single season record and would be third in MWC history. Fellow freshman Bonnie Jensen added eight points and eight rebounds, while Shannon Sorbo chipped in with seven points and eight rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench. The Red Hawks out-rebounded the Rams 51-31.

Cornell was led by Madison Wauters' 11 points. Mo Kempiak added seven points and eight rebounds (five offensive).

Ripon will try to keep things rolling Saturday against Illinois College. That game will begin at 3 p.m. at Willmore Center in Ripon, and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.