DE PERE, Wis. - The last time Ripon's women's basketball team lost to a conference opponent prior to this weekend came a year ago to the day, a streak that spanned 18 games. That streak ended Saturday at the hands of St. Norbert College, who defeated the Red Hawks 50-41 in a game in which SNC never trailed. Despite the loss, the two-time defending Midwest Conference champion Red Hawks remain in sole possession of first place in the Midwest Conference standings.

The Green Knights (5-12, 4-6 MWC) scored the game's first five points, but Ripon (13-4, 9-1 MWC) battled back to tie the score at nine with three and a half minutes left in the opening quarter on a jumper by Bonnie Jensen. St. Norbert broke that tie on the first basket of the second period, and they'd never look back, scoring 13 consecutive points to take a 22-9 lead mid-way through the quarter. Ripon then scored the next seven points to end the half, going into halftime trailing 22-16.

The Red Hawks cut that lead in half on the first basket of the second half as Alison Leslie connected on a 3-pointer on Ripon's first possession. St. Norbert would take a 34-28 lead into the fourth quarter, and would extend that lead to 11 in the game's final minute.

Ripon was led by Alyassa Burgess' nine points and four rebounds off the bench in her first game since returning from injury. Leslie added six points, while fellow freshmen Jensen and Kiana Fall each scored five points.

Macie Zurfluh led St. Norbert with 15 points, four rebounds, five assists, and five steals, while Hannah Ciesielczyk added nine points and five boards. Olivia DeCleene and Kaycee Gierczak each finished with seven points.

The Red Hawks will now attempt to begin a new streak, as they'll welcome Monmouth College to town Friday at 7:30 p.m. That game will be played at Willmore Center in Ripon, and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.