RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon women's basketball program used a balanced scoring attack and suffocating defense to route Lakeland 64-41 inside Weiske Gymnasium on Tuesday night in the Red Hawks' final non-conference home game of the season.
 
Ripon (6-4) dominated from start to finish, never trailing and leading by as many as 24 in the hosts' third consecutive win over Lakeland (3-6).
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Sophomore guard Natalie Rauwolf scored a game-high 14 points, making three of Ripon's four three-pointers. She added 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
• Junior forward Ella Ten Pas scored 12 points, swiping a career-high 5 steals and grabbing a pair of rebounds.
• Senior forward Bonnie Jensen scored just 5 points but collected a career-high 17 rebounds, including 6 offensive boards. She also had 4 steals, 3 blocks and 2 assists.
• Sophomore forward Maggie Glaus had her best game as a Red Hawk, tallying career-highs in points (8), minutes (7), made free throws (4) and rebounds (3).
• Sophomore guard Presley Buwalda had a career-high 7 rebounds – six of them being offensive. She chipped in 3 assists and 2 points.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Ripon jumped out to an early 9-3 lead before Lakeland scored the next four points to pull within two. That would be the closest the Muskies would get the rest of the night, however, as Ripon scored the final three points of the quarter on free throws by Rauwolf and Glaus to take a 16-9 lead into the second quarter.
 
The rout was on in the second quarter. After Lakeland cut its deficit to nine with 6:25 left, an 8-0 Red Hawk rally spanning nearly two and a half minutes gave Ripon a 31-14 cushion. Following a Muskie layup, another 7-0 Ripon spurt put the hosts up by 22 (38-16) and the Red Hawks led by 19 at the break.
 
Lakeland could not come any closer in the third as Ripon held a double-digit lead throughout. The visitors never got closer than 16, shooting just 14.3% (2 of 14) from the field in the third quarter. Ripon ended the frame on a 6-0 run, getting contributions from up and down the lineup, to lead 50-28 with the final 10 minutes looming.
 
With the outcome well in hand, the fourth quarter lacked drama but the Ripon defense continued to put the clamps on Lakeland. The Red Hawks held the Muskies scoreless for the final 2 minutes and 22 seconds of the game, ending the night with four consecutive points from Sophie Schlieve to head into the Christmas break on a high note.
 
KEY STATS

• Lakeland shot a mere 27.1% (13-48) from the field, a season-best for the Ripon defense.
• Ripon forced a season-high 25 turnovers, including 14 in the first half.
• Ripon scored 34 points in the paint compared to Lakeland's 16.
• The Red Hawks had a 29-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Ripon shot 12 of 18 (66.7%) from the free throw line, while the Muskies were just 10 of 24 at the charity stripe (41.7%).
• The Red Hawks dominated the boards, corralling 51 rebounds – a season-high – while allowing just 30 by Lakeland.

UP NEXT
Ripon has 10 days off before heading to Oshkosh for the annual BSN Winter Classic. The Red Hawks open against Dubuque on Friday (December 29) at 12 p.m. inside the Oshkosh Arena.
 
FOLLOW
Follow Ripon College Red Hawks Athletics on Facebook and @RiponRedHawks on Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to riponredhawks.com for all information, releases and schedules.