WHEATON, Illinois – Despite a herculean 20-point, 24-rebound effort from Ella Ten Pas, the Ripon women's basketball team could not convert at the buzzer and fell 50-49 at Wheaton on Tuesday night inside King Arena.
 
Ten Pas' 24 rebounds are tied for the third-most rebounds in a single game in program history. The senior became the first Red Hawk to gather 20+ rebounds in a game since Karalyn Dehn grabbed 20 against Lawrence in the 2005-06 season. Ripon (3-2) had the last possession of the game on Tuesday night, but a pair of shots didn't go down and the Thunder (3-1) escaped with the win.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior forward Ella Ten Pas also recorded three steals and two blocks in addition to her 20 points and 24 rebounds. She shot 8-of-13 from the field and also made four free throws.
• Senior guard Vanessa Solano scored eight points, grabbed two rebounds and recorded two blocks.
• Freshman guard Halle Van Horn tallied six points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. She was perfect from the field, going 3-of-3.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Wheaton got out to a strong start, scoring the first five points of the game, but Ripon scored the next four. Trailing 8-6, the Red Hawks went on a 7-0 spurt to lead by five, holding Wheaton scoreless for nearly three minutes. The Thunder scored the last bucket of the quarter and Ripon led 13-10 after one.
 
Ripon increased its lead at the onset of the second quarter, scoring the first four points to take a 17-10 lead. That was its biggest lead of the quarter, as Wheaton clawed back and made it a two-point game on multiple occasions. The Thunder ended the half on a 12-5 run – scoring the last four points of the half – to even the score up at 22 going into intermission. Ripon was held without points for the final 3:45 of the half.
 
The third quarter was close throughout, as the biggest lead on either was five. The Red Hawks scored the first four points of the stanza as Wheaton endured a four-plus minute scoring drought. Solano canned a triple to give Ripon a 29-26 lead with 4:23 left in the quarter, but that would be Ripon's last lead of the night. Wheaton scored the last three points of the quarter and led 38-33 with 10 minutes to play.
 
After Wheaton opened up a 47-37 lead with six minutes to go, Ripon punched back and would not go down quietly. A layup by Van Horn with under three minutes left sparked a 7-0 Ripon run as the Red Hawks cut their deficit to a possession with 1:16 to go. Wheaton split a pair of free throws with 48 seconds on the clock, and a Ten Pas layup made it 50-49 Thunder with 36 seconds left. After a Thunder missed layup, the Red Hawks had the ball with a chance to win it. However, two missed shots on the final possession gave Wheaton the win.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot 19-of-46 from the field (41.3%) while Wheaton was 17-of-53 (32.1%).
• The Red Hawks were just 9-of-17 from the free throw line, while the Thunder were 8-of-12 from the charity stripe.
• Ripon had a 34-14 edge in points in the paint, a 10-2 edge in second-chance points and an 18-5 lead in bench points.
• Kate Oliver led Wheaton with 18 points.

UP NEXT
Ripon now takes 11 days off before its home opener on Saturday, November 30 against Carroll. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be followed by the Ripon men taking on UW-Superior.
 
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