A layup by Alison Leslie with 2 seconds left on the clock gave the Ripon College women's basketball team a dramatic, 78-76 come-from-behind win over Lake Forest College Tuesday night.
 
Leslie's game-winning layup gave her 13 points on the night, a total that tied for third on the team in terms of scoring performance. Leslie also hit 3-of-6 from behind the arc, connecting on 3 of the team's 5 three-pointers in the game. Leading the Red Hawks was Bonnie Jensen, who had team-highs of 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists for Ripon. Bella Opelt had 14 points and like Leslie, had a big basket in the final minute, her layup tying the game at 76 with 43 seconds to play. Skyylar Brescia had 13 points and 4 rebounds in 23 minutes of action and Kiana Fall made it all 5 starters in double figures as she contributed 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists before fouling out.
 
Ripon hadn't faced much adversity during their 11-game win streak, and through the first part of the first quarter, it looked as if the Red Hawks would again go on to post an easy win. Ripon led by 5 in the first quarter, but their lead disappeared over the final 3-plus minutes of the quarter and the teams would end the first 10 minutes tied at 18.
 
The Red Hawks faced their largest deficit of the game in the second quarter as they fell behind 32-24 with 3:12 left in the half. Ripon didn't let the deficit get too large, however, and closed the half on a 10-4 run to make it just a two-point game heading into halftime.
 
Ripon continued to trail through the first few minutes of the third quarter, but the Red Hawks used a quick 10-0 run to turn a 39-37 deficit into a 47-39 lead with 5:58 on the clock in the third quarter. Lake Forest would use a run of its own to tie the game at 52 apiece, but Ripon held on to a 59-58 advantage with just the fourth quarter to go.
 
The lead changed hands 8 times in the final quarter with no team leading by more than three points at any point in the fourth quarter. After Ripon fought to tie the game at both 72 and 74, doing so on a pair of free throws and a layup by Jensen, they found themselves behind by two after a pair of free throws from Lake Forest. A timeout allowed the Red Hawks to draw up a successful play that got Opelt a layup to tie the game at 76-76, then, with Lake Forest having an opportunity to retake the lead, Leslie stole the ball and gave her team the last possession of the night. The final play was executed perfectly, and Leslie cashed in the game-winning layup just before the buzzer sounded and pushed Ripon's win streak to 12.
 
Ripon has a big showdown with Knox College on Saturday, February 18th as the top two teams in the Midwest Conference square-off for the regular season title. Knox previously defeated Ripon back on December 10th and sits undefeated in MWC play. Ripon is 14-1 in the MWC and has not lost in 2023. The game starts at 1:00 p.m.