RIPON, Wisconsin – Continuing its gauntlet of a non-conference schedule, the Ripon women's basketball program fell 55-48 to UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday night inside Weiske Gymnasium.
 
Though the teams were tied after the first quarter, Stevens Point (5-0) led for the final 26+ minutes of the game to hand Ripon (1-4) the home defeat.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Junior forward Ella Ten Pas had a career-high 23 points to lead all scorers. She went 11 of 16 from the field and also led Ripon with 9 rebounds.
• Junior guard/forward Bree Miller tallied 8 points and 3 rebounds off the bench, sinking a pair of three-pointers.
• Senior forward Bonnie Jensen accrued 7 rebounds for the Red Hawks.
• Freshman guard Laney Havlovitz chipped in 4 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Ten Pas got the scoring going on the first possession of the game, but UWSP countered soon after. With the Pointers leading 12-8, Ripon held UWSP scoreless for nearly three minutes, going on a 6-0 run near the end of the quarter to lead 14-12. Stevens Point snapped the drought with a bucket in the final seconds of the quarter as the teams were deadlocked at 14 after the first period.
 
Ten Pas scored the first four points of the second quarter to give Ripon its biggest lead of the game. However, UWSP followed with an 8-0 run to pull ahead 22-18, and the Pointers would never trail again. Though Ripon cut its deficit to one on multiple occasions, UWSP took a slim 28-25 lead into the break after neither team scored for the final 1:53 of the half.
 
Ripon scored the first points of the second half, but Stevens Point scored the next six to lead 34-27. Abby Hartmann sank a pair of free throws to chip away at the deficit, but Ripon never got closer than five the rest of the quarter. The Red Hawks held UWSP without a point for the final 3:58 of the quarter, but failed to score themselves in the last 3:39 and trailed by 11 entering the fourth.

Ripon was unable to chip away at the lead any further in the final period. The Red Hawks trailed by double digits until Ten Pas made a layup with 1:35 left, but Stevens Point buckled down defensively to preserve the win.
 
KEY STATS

• Stevens Point had a slight edge in field goal percentage over Ripon (47.9% to 42.9%).
• Stevens Point had 27 rebounds and 10 second-chance points while limiting Ripon to 24 rebounds and just 2 second-chance points.
• Free throws were at a premium on Wednesday night. Stevens Point was 8 of 13 from the line (61.5%), while Ripon went 4 of 5 from the charity stripe (80.0%).
• Courtney Krueger led UWSP with 12 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals.

UP NEXT
Ripon stays home to open Midwest Conference play on Saturday (December 2) at 3 p.m. against Illinois College.
 
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