BELOIT, Wisconsin – The Ripon women's basketball program stayed perfect in Midwest Conference action on Wednesday night, breezing past Beloit 67-48 inside Flood Arena.

Ripon (3-4, 2-0 MWC) outscored Beloit (2-7, 1-2 MWC) by 16 in the second quarter to break the game open and help ensure its 15th-consecutive victory over the Buccaneers dating back to 2015.

Furthermore, the Ripon defense allowed season-lows in opponent field goal percentage (32.8%), opponent three-point percentage (11.1%), opponent rebounds (21) and points allowed (48).

STANDOUT HAWKS

• Sophomore guard Natalie Rauwolf had a game-high, and career-high, 17 points on an effective 8 of 11 shooting. She also had 4 rebounds.
• Junior forward Ella Ten Pas earned her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She chipped in 3 assists and 2 blocks.
• Senior forward Bonnie Jensen tallied 9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
• Junior guard Bella Opelt scored 7 points and collected 4 rebounds.
• Freshman guard Laney Havlovitz contributed 5 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

PLAY-BY-PLAY

The first quarter was an offensive struggle as Ripon held Beloit without a point for the first two and a half minutes of the game. Ripon never trailed in the quarter, but never led by more than three as there were also three ties in the first 10 minutes. The Red Hawks were held to just 11 points in the opening frame, their lowest-scoring first quarter of the season, but still led by three heading into the second quarter.

Ripon gained greater separation in the second quarter. Tied at 13, an 18-2 run spanning nearly six minutes of the quarter opened the floodgates and gave Ripon a 31-15 lead. Thanks to free throws by Anna Fahrney and Presley Buwalda, the Red Hawks took a 19-point lead into the second half. The 25 points for Ripon in the second quarter marked its second-highest scoring quarter of the season to date.

Ripon wasted no time in asserting itself in the second half, opening the third quarter on a 9-0 run and keeping Beloit off the scoreboard for the first 4+ minutes of the second half. Beloit went on a 6-0 run down 47-20, but the Red Hawks led by at least 20 points for all but the first 11 seconds of the third quarter. Its cushion heading into the fourth was 21 points, the biggest end-of-quarter lead in the current campaign.

Though Beloit scored the first points of the quarter, Ripon responded with a 9-0 run for its largest lead of the game at 61-33. The outcome was never in doubt as the Red Hawks' advantage never fell below 19 the rest of the way. Ripon held Beloit to its second-lowest point total of the season en route to the road conference win.

KEY STATS

• For the second time this season, Ripon shot over 50.0% from the field. The Red Hawks were exactly 50.0% on Wednesday (25-50) while limiting Beloit to 32.8% shooting (19-58).
• Beloit was just 2 of 18 (11.1%) from three-point range, but Ripon shot a touch better from deep (2 of 8).
• Ripon had a commanding advantage on the boards, garnering 47 rebounds to Beloit's 21.
• Each team had 32 points in the paint.
• Elizabeth Kalk led Beloit with 13 points and 5 rebounds.

UP NEXT
Ripon continues its road trip at Knox on Saturday (December 9) for a 5 p.m. tipoff in Galesburg, Illinois.

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