GALESBURG, Illinois – The Ripon women's basketball program won its eighth-consecutive Midwest Conference road game on Saturday night, defeating reigning MWC Tournament champion Knox 72-61 inside Memorial Gymnasium.

For the first time this season, Ripon (4-4, 3-0 MWC) had four players score in double-figures which accounted for 60 of the Red Hawks' 72 points against the Prairie Fire (6-3, 1-2 MWC).

STANDOUT HAWKS

• Junior forward Ella Ten Pas scored a game-high 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting for her third 20-point outing in the last four contests. She just missed a double-double with 9 rebounds, also contributing 2 assists and 2 blocks.
• Senior forward Bonnie Jensen netted 14 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
• Junior guard Bella Opelt chipped in a season-high 13 points, adding a pair of rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
• Sophomore guard Natalie Rauwolf scored in double figures for the third consecutive game, tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. She also had 2 assists and 2 steals.
• Freshman guard Laney Havlovitz contributed 6 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Knox scored the first six points of the game, holding Ripon scoreless for two minutes until Ten Pas got the Red Hawks on the board with a triple. However, the Prairie Fire answered with four more points to lead 10-3 not even four minutes in. Ripon responded by ending the quarter on an 11-2 run to hold a 14-12 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

Ripon kept the pressure on at the beginning of the second quarter, scoring the first six points of the frame. Though Knox battled back and cut its deficit to four on multiple occasions, Ripon held at least a four-point cushion for the rest of the quarter. The Red Hawks ended the half on a 6-0 run, holding the Prairie Fire scoreless for the final 1:29, to lead 37-27 at the break.

After Knox closed within single digits at 42-33 less than two minutes into the second half, a 5-0 run – highlighted by an old-fashioned, three-point play by Ten Pas – gave Ripon its biggest lead of the game (47-33) with 6:59 remaining in the third. Though Ripon led 49-35, a 9-0 spurt by the Prairie Fire, with the help of increased defensive pressure, gave Knox life once again in the middle stages of the quarter. Knox missed a pair of triples at the buzzer and the Red Hawks led by eight, 56-48, with the fourth quarter yet to play.

Havlovitz opened the fourth with a jumper and Ripon never looked back, leading by at least eight the rest of the way. The lead fluctuated between eight and 12 points for most of the fourth quarter as Knox never threatened Ripon's advantage. Though the Red Hawks were held to just five points in the final 3:11, the Prairie Fire only scored six points in the same timeframe as Ripon picked up the critical road win.

KEY STATS

• For the third consecutive game, Ripon held an opponent under 36% shooting. Knox shot just 35.1% from the field (20-57) while Ripon was 26 of 58 (44.8%).
• Ripon controlled the glass, collecting 42 rebounds to Knox's 36.
• Points in the paint were nearly identical, as Ripon had 30 while Knox had 26.
• Ripon forced 16 turnovers, but the Red Hawks had 20 turnovers themselves.
• Neither team lit it up from beyond the arc, as Ripon was 3 of 16 (18.8%) and Knox shot just 12.5% (2-16).

UP NEXT
Ripon is off for finals this upcoming week, next taking on UW-Platteville on Saturday (December 16) at 1 p.m. inside Weiske Gymnasium.

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.