RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon women's basketball program outscored Lawrence 20-5 in the second quarter and controlled the rest of the game en route to a 62-48 win over the Vikings on Wednesday night inside Weiske Gymnasium.
 
After the teams were deadlocked at 18 after the first 10 minutes, Ripon (11-6, 8-0 MWC) scored the next 10 points while holding Lawrence (10-7, 4-4 MWC) scoreless for nearly four minutes. The Red Hawks led for the final 26 minutes of the game and ran their regular-season Midwest Conference win streak to 21 games.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Sophomore guard Natalie Rauwolf had a team-high 15 points, including 12 in the first half, with 4 rebounds. She was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
• Senior forward Bonnie Jensen scored 10 of her 14 points in the first half, adding 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
• Junior forward Ella Ten Pas recorded her seventh double-double of the season, and second consecutive, after 11 points and 15 rebounds on Wednesday. She made a season-high nine free throws and seven of her rebounds were offensive. She also added 2 steals and 2 assists.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The first period was a track meet on both sides, as the teams traded baskets and the biggest lead on either side in the first 10 minutes was just three. After Ripon led 9-8, Lawrence scored four consecutive points for its biggest lead of the game. However, the Red Hawks responded and pulled ahead 18-16 after a layup by Anna Fahrney. Lawrence tied it up near the end of the quarter and Ripon entered a second quarter without a lead for the first time in conference play this season.
 
The game flipped in the second quarter. A 10-point onslaught right out of the gate took the wind out of the Viking sails and it took Lawrence nearly four minutes to find the scoreboard. After they did, however, an 8-0 run by Ripon bumped its lead up to 16 at 36-20. The Vikings scored three of the final five points in the half but still trailed by 15 at intermission.
 
Quarter three was much more even, though Ripon maintained its lead. Lawrence couldn't shrink the gap to less than 11 in the frame as the Red Hawks had an answer at every turn. Neither team had a run of greater than four in the quarter as both squads forced multiple scoring droughts of over a minute and a half long. Ripon scored its final four points of the quarter at the free throw line and held a 14-point advantage with 10 minutes to play.
 
Lawrence refused to go away, scoring the first four points of the fourth quarter to come within 10 for the first time since six minutes remained until halftime. However, the ensuing 7-0 Ripon run did the Vikings in, pushing the lead back to 17 with 4:12 left. Ripon held a comfortable advantage for the remainder of the game and won in double-digits for the third straight outing.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot 41.2% (21-of-51) from the field and the Vikings were 20-of-58 (34.5%).
• Ripon had its best three-point performance of the season at 54.5%, tying a season-high with 6 makes on 11 attempts, while Lawrence was just 2-of-18 from deep (11.1%). The Red Hawks have allowed three or less made three-pointers in each of the last four games.
• The Red Hawks corralled 41 rebounds to Lawrence's 29.
• Maggie Culver had a team-high 15 points to lead the Vikings.

UP NEXT
Ripon goes on the road to take on Grinnell on Saturday (January 20) at 3 p.m.
 
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