RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's women's basketball team opened their conference season Saturday night, defeating Illinois College 79-66, leading for 39 of the game's 40 minutes. The Red Hawks also forced 23 Illinois College turnovers, which they turned into 25 points.

Illinois College's Lilly Pepper scored a basket on the game's first possession, but Skyylar Brescia would give Ripon a 4-2 lead with a pair of quick baskets. Ripon ended the quarter on a 10-2 run to take an eight point lead into the second period. The Red Hawks would lead by as many as 15 in the first half, and would take a 13-point advantage into halftime.

Illinois College (2-5, 1-1 MWC) would cut that lead to eight early in the half, but would get no closer until a 3-pointer in the final seconds made the final deficit of seven points. Ripon (2-6, 1-0 MWC) finished the game shooting 49 percent (30-61) from the field and 36 percent (8-22) from 3-point range, while the Lady Blues shot just 37 percent (19-52) from the field.

Alison Leslie led all players with 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting, while Kiana Fall added a career-high 21 points. Bonnie Jensen also chipped in with 12 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

Illinois College was led by Pepper's 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Kendra Bass also scored 16 points, while Junie Zirkelbach added 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

The Red Hawks will be in action again on Friday when they'll travel to Beloit College. That game will begin at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.