EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - Ripon's women's basketball team came out firing in Saturday's game against UW-Eau Claire, converting six of their first 10 shots as they got out to an early 12-10 lead. The Red Hawks couldn't sustain that shooting however, as they would make just 10 shots in the final 33 minutes of the game, which resulted in a 74-46 loss to the Blugolds.

Ripon (1-1) shot 47 percent (7-15) from the field in the opening quarter, which featured one tie and four lead changes. After entering the second quarter trailing 18-14, Ripon scored eight points in the next 10 minutes to go into halftime trailing 32-22.

UW-Eau Claire (2-0) scored the first basket of the second half and would lead by double digits for the remainder of the contest. Ripon would cut the lead to 10 on a pair of Kiana Fall free throws with eight and a half minutes left in the third period, but that's as close as the Red Hawks would get the rest of the night. UW-Eau Claire turned the ball over just eight times in the game, and would outscore Ripon 19-8 in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.

Ripon finished the game shooting 28 percent (16-57) from the field, including 8 percent (1-12) from 3-point range. Fall led the Red Hawks with a career-high 15 points, while Bonnie Jensen added seven and four rebounds.

UW-Eau Claire shot 49 percent (27-55) in the game, while converting 38 percent (6-16) of their 3-pointers. The Blugolds were led by Tyra Boettcher's 23 points and five rebounds, while Jessie Ruden added 21 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Courtney Crouch also chipped in with 10 points and a game-high four assists.

The Red Hawks will try to bounce back on Wednesday in their 2021-22 home opener against UW-Plattevlle at 7 p.m. That will also serve as the 1,000th game in Ripon College Women's Basketball program history. We will also be collecting non-perishable food items that night for the Midwest Conference's annual canned food challenge. Wednesday's game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.