The Ripon College women's basketball team will play for the 2023 Midwest Conference Tournament Championship tomorrow afternoon after taking down Illinois College, 87-75, in the first semifinal game Friday evening.
 
Ripon held a small lead for most of the first quarter, but with the Red Hawks leading 18-16 with 2 minutes on the clock, Illinois College used a 9-0 run to go up 25-18 before Ripon cut it to a 25-20 game at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Red Hawks erased their first-quarter deficit early in the second quarter, but they couldn't make the play that would put them back in the lead. Not until Ripon had tied the game for a fourth time in the quarter, that is. Kiana Fall tied and broke the tie with a pair of free throws with 4:09 remaining in the half, putting Ripon on top 32-31. From there, the Red Hawks would close the quarter on a 9-2 run and take an 8-point lead into the locker rooms.
 
The momentum from the second quarter-closing run did not wane while the teams were in the locker rooms as Ripon came out and quickly pushed their lead into double digits. The Red Hawks continued to hold a double-figure lead, expanding it to as many as 22 points with 2:59 left on the clock in the third quarter before going into the fourth quarter with a 66-50 advantage.
 
All that stood between Ripon and a berth in the MWC title game was 10 minutes of solid play and the Red Hawks delivered. Ripon's lead never dropped below 12 points in the fourth quarter and the Red Hawks earned their spot with an 87-75 victory.
 
Bella Opelt led the way with a game-high 25 points in the win. The sophomore guard shot 10-of-14 from the floor, and 4-for-4 from three-point range while playing a team-high 34 minutes. Alison Leslie matched Opelt with 4 threes of her own and shot a highly efficient 7-of-11 from the floor for her 19 points. Skyylar Brescia had 11 points and a team-high 6 rebounds, and Bree Miller had 11 points off the bench to round out Ripon's double-digit scorers. Kiana Fall and Bonnie Jensen each had 8 points with Fall adding a game-high 6 assists and a team-high 3 steals. Jensen also tallied 4 assists in the win.
 
Ripon will play the winner of the second semifinal game between Knox College and Cornell College in Saturday's MWC Tournament Championship game. The game will tip off from Ripon's Weiske Gymnasium at 3:00 p.m.