RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon women's basketball program held a nine-point advantage at the half, but Knox outscored the Red Hawks by 16 in the second half and dealt Ripon a 78-71 loss on Saturday afternoon inside Weiske Gymnasium – its first loss in over a month and its first home loss since November.
 
In a game where Ripon (14-7, 11-1 MWC) could have clinched the outright Midwest Conference regular season title on Senior Day, Knox (16-5, 8-4 MWC) played spoiler and shot 55.5% from the field in the second half to hand the Red Hawks their first defeat in MWC play since December 10, 2022.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Junior forward Ella Ten Pas scored a team-high 15 points, adding 12 rebounds and 3 steals for her league-leading ninth double-double of the season. She only missed one shot from the field.
• Senior forward Bonnie Jensen had 14 points and 6 rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Natalie Rauwolf netted 10 points and 9 rebounds – including a quartet of offensive rebounds.
• Freshman guard Laney Havlovitz scored 9 points and added 6 assists with 4 rebounds.
• Junior guard Bree Miller had 9 points off the bench in eight minutes, including a trio of three-pointers.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Ripon got on the board first nearly two minutes in, but the Prairie Fire responded on the next possession. Trailing 12-10, Ripon went on a 10-0 spanning three minutes to grab an early eight-point lead. After Knox cut its deficit to six at the free-throw line, Rauwolf ended the quarter with a layup to give the Red Hawks an eight-point cushion after the first 10 minutes.
 
Knox responded in the early portions of the second quarter, trimming its deficit down to as little as three. However, multiple 6-0 spurts by the Red Hawks pushed their cushion to 11 (36-25) with under three minutes left in the half. Anna Fahrney made a layup with under a minute remaining, Ripon kept Knox off the scoreboard for the final 1:52 and the Red Hawks headed into intermission leading 38-29.
Knox made its move in the third quarter and didn't waste any time, cutting its deficit to one at 40-39 following a 10-2 run to open the second half. In the process of nine consecutive points, the Prairie Fire grabbed a 48-44 advantage and would lead the rest of the frame. Knox led by as many as five in the period, but back-to-back triples by Miller at the end of the quarter made the Prairie Fire advantage just two, 55-53, with the final 10 minutes to play.
 
Ripon punched back in the fourth, scoring seven consecutive points to lead 62-60 with 7:04 left in the game. Over the next minute and a half, the teams would jostle for position. Nyah Daniels made a free throw for Knox with 5:48 left and the Prairie Fire would not relinquish the lead. After Laney Havlovitz made a pair of free throws with 3:17 remaining to bring Ripon within 71-69, the Prairie Fire went on a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to put the game away.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot just 39.1% from the floor (27-of-69) and only shot 34.3% from the floor in the second half, while Knox was 26-of-61 over 40 minutes for a 42.6% clip.
• Both teams struggled to find their footing from deep; each team shot 25.0% while Ripon only made five attempts and Knox made four.
• There were seven ties and nine lead changes in the game.
• Knox was 22-of-32 (68.8%) from the free-throw line, while Ripon only attempted 18 free tries and made 12 (66.7%).
• Sarina Dacio led Knox with 20 points, while Kylee Callahan (17 pts), Bria Medina (17 pts) and Nyah Daniels (13 pts) were also in double figures.

UP NEXT
Ripon faces Cornell on the road on Wednesday (February 7) at 7:30 p.m.
 
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