RIPON, Wis. - After trailing by four points at halftime of Friday night's Midwest Conference Tournament semi-final game, the Ripon women's basketball team shot 57 percent (16-28) from the field in the second half to earn a hard-fought 68-65 win against Illinois College. That victory advances the Red Hawks to the MWC Tournament Championship Game for the third consecutive season.

Illinois College (10-11) scored the first four points of Friday's game, but Ripon (17-9) answered with six consecutive points of their own to take the lead in a first half that featured two ties and four lead changes. After trailing by three after one quarter of play, Bella Opelt scored the first four points of the second period to give Ripon the lead. Illinois College would later use a 14-2 run to take a nine-point advantage with just over two minutes remaining before halftime, but Ripon closed the half on a 7-2 run, with the last five points coming from Opelt to cut IC's lead to four at the break.

The Lady Blues would hold onto that lead until mid-way through the third quarter when a jumper by Opelt gave the Red Hawks a 46-44 advantage. The Red Hawks took a four-point lead into the final quarter, which saw them lead by eight with just over five minutes remaining. That lead would all but vanish however, as Illinois College cut it to one on a pair of Lilly Pepper free throws with one minute to play. Trailing by three with six seconds remaining, the Lady Blues had a chance to tie the game, but Bonnie Jensen made sure that wouldn't happen, blocking a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer to secure the victory for the Red Hawks.

Alison Leslie led Ripon with 19 points, to go along with six rebounds, while Opelt scored a career-high 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Jensen also chipped in with 14 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, as she made seven of her nine shots from the field.

Illinois College was led by Pepper's game-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Junie Zirkelbach and Kendra Bass each finished with 12 points.

Ripon will now face Monmouth College in Saturday's MWC Tournament Championship game, marking the third consecutive season those two teams have battled for the right to advance to the NCAA Division-III Tournament. That game will begin at 6 p.m. inside Weiske Gymnasium in Willmore Center, and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/, with LiveStats available at https://static.riponredhawks.com/custompages/LiveStats/WBBall/xlive.htm. That game will be preceded by Ripon's men playing Cornell for the MWC Tournament Championship at 3 p.m.