RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's women's basketball team is just one game away from hosting the Midwest Conference Tournament for the third consecutive season. The Red Hawks defeated Lake Forest 70-55 Tuesday night, behind a 31-point explosion from freshman Alison Leslie. That win, coupled with Monmouth's loss at Cornell, puts Ripon in sole possession of first place with one game remaining.

Ripon (18-6, 14-3 MWC) never trailed in Tuesday's game, scoring the game's first five points before getting out to a 10-2 lead less than four minutes into the contest. Lake Forest (11-12, 8-8 MWC) pulled within three points in the opening quarter, but Ripon closed the period on a 12-3 run to take a 12-point lead into the second quarter. The Foresters outscored Ripon by three points in that period, sending the Red Hawks to the locker room with a 38-29 lead.

Lake Forest would only pull within eight points in the second half, but Ripon answered by scoring the final 11 points of the third quarter to take a 19-point lead into the final period. The Red Hawks took their largest lead of 23 on a Leslie 3-pointer early in the fourth, as they would coast to victory.

Leslie's 31-point output marks her second 30-point game of the season, and is tied for ninth in program history for a single game, just six shy of the school record. She also made 7-of-11 three-pointers, which is tied for the second-most 3-pointers in a single game in program history, just two shy of the school record and three short of the conference mark. That also moves the first-year player into second for 3-pointers in a single season with 60, which is just nine shy of the school record. Fellow freshman Bonnie Jensen also had an outstanding game, recording her third career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, to go along with a career-high five assists.

Lake Forest was led by Kelsey Burton and Katie Neher, who each finished with 11 points, to go along with seven and six rebounds, respectively. Ripon shot 42 percent (20-48) from the field, including 43 percent (9-21) from 3-point range, while Lake Forest converted 32 percent (19-59) of their shots, including 31 percent (5-16) from 3-point range.

Ripon will close out the regular season on Saturday when they'll host Knox College at 3 p.m. in Willmore Center. With a win, the Red Hawks will clinch hosting rights for the MWC Tournament for the third consecutive season. Saturday's game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.