JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - The Ripon College Women's Basketball Team began their Midwest Conference title defense with a 78-75 road victory over Illinois College Saturday afternoon.
 
Ripon, who hadn't played since last Saturday, came out in the first quarter a little flat as Illinois College scored the game's first six points to go up early on Ripon. The Red Hawks trailed for almost the entirety of the quarter, but Kiana Fall buried a three-pointer with 2 seconds left on the clock to cap-off a 10-4 run and gave Ripon the 19-18 lead after the first quarter.
 
The Red Hawks carried the momentum into the second quarter to take a slight advantage, but they were unable to create real separation from Illinois. Ripon led by as many as five points in the quarter, but it was another last second three-pointer, this one by Bonnie Jensen, that had Ripon leading by one point, 33-32, at the break.
 
Ripon won the third quarter, due in part, to a 10-4 run that broke a 41-all tie and gave the Red Hawks their largest lead of the game at 6 points. The teams traded baskets in the final 20 seconds and Ripon led 53-47 with 10 minutes left to play.
 
A continuation of the run they used to close the third quarter had Ripon leading by 13 points, at 63-49, with 7 minutes left in the contest. The Red Hawks maintained a comfortable lead for most of the remaining time on the clock, but Illinois, who trailed by 12 with as little as 2:40 left on the clock, started chipping away at their deficit and made things interesting at the end. Ripon missed 7-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes which allowed Illinois to get back into the game, and after an Illinois three-pointer with 6 seconds left, Ripon saw their lead dwindled to just 2 points. But the Red Hawks' Abi Payne stepped to the line and hit both free throws to seal what would be a 78-75 win.
 
Alison Leslie, Skyylar Brescia, Jensen, and Fall led the way for Ripon with double-digit scoring efforts each. Leslie's 18 points was tied for the game high while Brescia paired her 16 points with 10 rebounds for a double-double despite playing just 19 minutes. Jensen filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals, while Fall had 13 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds before fouling out.
 
Overall, the Red Hawks shot 47.9 percent from the floor compared to just 43 percent from Illinois, and outrebounded Illinois by a 41-20 margin.
 
Ripon returns home for another MWC game on Wednesday, December 7^th when they host Beloit College. The game is set to start at 5:30 p.m.