MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – Facing a team that received national top-25 votes in the preseason D3hoops.com poll, the Ripon women's basketball program fell 60-52 on Friday night at Wisconsin Lutheran inside the Time of Grace Center.
 
Participating in the two-day Paul F. Knueppel Classic, Ripon (2-1) never led against Wisconsin Lutheran (1-1) and got within two in the second half, but was unable to fully climb out of an eight-point halftime deficit.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior forward Ella Ten Pas scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, chipping in two steals and going 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
• Senior guard/forward Bree Miller added 11 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting with two steals.
• Junior guard McKenzie Bestor tallied a career-high nine points, adding four rebounds in 22 minutes.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
After Ripon answered Wisconsin Lutheran's opening bucket, the Warriors scored the next five points, holding Ripon without a basket for nearly five minutes until Ten Pas snapped the skid with a fastbreak layup. WLC increased its lead to six in the quarter as Ripon was held scoreless for the last 2:09 of the frame as the Warriors led 14-8 after 10 minutes.
 
The second quarter brought a scoring drought for both teams, as the score remained 14-8 until the 7:44 mark when WLC made a layup to pad its largest lead of the game thus far. The Warriors made it an 11-point game after five consecutive points in the midway part of the period, and Ripon endured a drought of over four minutes as WLC made its lead 13 with under two minutes to go in the half. The Red Hawks ended the half with five consecutive points and trailed 25-17 at the break.
 
Ripon made a move at the onset of the second half, opening the third quarter on a 6-1 run while holding the hosts without a field goal for nearly four minutes. With the Red Hawks trailing 26-23, WLC grabbed a key offensive rebound and made an important three to double its lead. Ten Pas made a pair of free throws with 3:59 left in the third to bring Ripon within two, the closest it had been since the first quarter. Laney Havlovitz made two free throws with under a minute left and the Red Hawks trailed just 35-33 with one quarter to play, holding Wisconsin Lutheran without a field goal for the final 3:45.
 
WLC kept a distance between itself and Ripon, scoring the first four points of the final frame. The Warriors biggest lead of the quarter was 11 at 48-37 following a 9-2 spurt, but six consecutive points for the Red Hawks moments later made it a 50-45 game with 3:11 to play. Unfortunately, the Warriors took over down low, scoring back-to-back buckets and putting the game away.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot 40.0% from the field (18-of-45) while WLC was slightly better at 21-of-45 (46.7%).
• The Red Hawks had a 12-7 advantage in steals and turned the Warriors over 23 times.
• Ripon was a near-perfect 15-of-16 from the free throw line and had a commanding 26-12 advantage in bench points.
• Margie Stevens led Wisconsin Lutheran with 29 points and nine rebounds.

UP NEXT
Ripon finishes its weekend in Milwaukee on Saturday (November 16) as the Red Hawks take on Dubuque at 1 p.m.
 
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