RIPON, Wisconsin – Four players scored in double figures, Anna Fahrney had a career-high 15 points and the Ripon women's basketball program breezed past Beloit 88-41 inside Weiske Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
 
After defeating Beloit (7-13, 5-7 MWC) for the 16th meeting in a row, Ripon (14-6, 11-0 MWC) is now one win away from earning an outright Midwest Conference regular-season title and hosting rights for the upcoming MWC Tournament. The Red Hawks' 88-point performance was its biggest offensive output since scoring 88 at Lakeland on November 12, 2022, and the 41 points surrendered were Ripon's fewest since Lawrence scored 38 on the Red Hawks on January 11, 2023.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Junior guard Anna Fahrney had the aforementioned career-high 15 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting with a pair of successful three-pointers. Wednesday marked the first time in her career she scored in double figures.
• Junior forward Ella Ten Pas scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. She just missed a double-double with 9 rebounds and also had 2 assists.
• Senior forward Bonnie Jensen netted 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting with 6 rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Natalie Rauwolf also scored 12 points, chipping in 2 rebounds and 2 steals. She made at least two three-pointers for the fourth consecutive game.
• Senior guard Abby Hartmann contributed 9 points, 7 steals, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Her 7 steals were just one shy of tying the school record for single-game steals.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Wednesday's game was all Ripon from the jump as the Red Hawks scored the first 10 points. After Beloit trimmed its deficit to 11 halfway through the quarter, seven consecutive points by Ripon gave the Red Hawks an 18-point advantage. The lead grew to as many as 21 in the frame and Ripon led 27-8 after the first 10 minutes.
 
The second period was even more dominant than the first as Beloit mustered just one made field goal the entire quarter. Rauwolf made a layup nearly two minutes in and Ripon led 31-8, its largest lead for most of the quarter. The Buccaneers made a free throw with two minutes left until the half, but Jensen, Hartmann and Ten Pas all found the hoop as Ripon ended the half on a 6-0 run and led by 26 at intermission.
 
An 11-0 Ripon run over nearly three minutes to open the second half took the wind out of the Beloit sails and the lead grew to as big as 42 in the quarter on multiple occasions. The Buccaneers managed just three made field goals in the final 4:46 of the quarter as Ripon clamped down defensively. Ripon scored only one field goal in the final two minutes of the frame but still led 68-28 with one quarter to go.
 
The Red Hawks started the fourth quarter strong, scoring the first seven points to go up 75-28. After a pair of made Beloit free throws with 5:11 left in the game, Ripon ended the night on an 8-5 spurt. The Red Hawks held Beloit to three made field goals in the fourth quarter and ran away with the Midwest Conference victory.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon had its best shooting performance of the season, going 31-of-57 (54.4%) while holding Beloit to just 10 made field goals (10-of-46, 21.7%).
• The Red Hawks dished out a season-high 19 assists – their most assists in a single game since February 15, 2022 (21 vs. Lake Forest).
• Ripon dominated Beloit in points in the paint (48-16), points off turnovers (26-17), second-chance points (15-7), fast-break points (17-4) and bench points (37-19).
• Elizabeth Kalk had a team-high 8 points for Beloit.

UP NEXT
Ripon readies for Senior Day on Saturday (February 3) against Knox at 3 p.m.
 
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