RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon women's basketball program is one win away from another NCAA Tournament after dispatching Cornell 78-47 on Friday night inside Weiske Gymnasium in a Midwest Conference Tournament semifinal.
 
With the win, Ripon (22-4) advances to Saturday's title game against Grinnell. Each team won on its home floor this season – the Pioneers upset Ripon 71-58 in Iowa on January 8, while the Red Hawks defeated Grinnell 50-47 in Ripon on January 25.
 
The Red Hawks have now set a school record for their longest home winning streak at 14 games dating back to February 14, 2024, and have tied the 2003-04 squad for most wins in a single season.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Sophomore guard Laney Havlovitz scored a team-high 16 points, adding eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
• Senior forward Ella Ten Pas added 13 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and three steals for her school record 24th double-double of her career.
• Junior guard Natalie Rauwolf tallied 10 points and five rebounds.
• Freshman guard Karsyn Nelson contributed nine points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• Senior guard Anna Fahrney added eight points, six rebounds and two steals.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Cornell (14-11) kept it close in the opening quarter — though Ripon opened the game on a 12-2 run, the Rams pushed back with consecutive three-pointers to draw within four. Each team made a three-pointer in the final 10 seconds of the frame as Ripon led 15-11 after one.
 
The Red Hawks gained separation with a big second quarter. The Red Hawks scored seven of the first nine points and from there, the Rams never got closer than seven the rest of the game. Leading 24-17 with 5:47 left in the half, a 13-0 blitz by Ripon gave the hosts a 20-point cushion. Cornell only made one field goal in the final five and a half minutes as the Red Hawks took a 41-24 lead into intermission.
 
Ripon kept Cornell at least 17 points away for the entire third quarter. The lead ballooned to 21 less than two minutes in following a layup by Nelson, and eventually got up to 28 following a layup by Ten Pas with 1:17 left in the stanza. Ripon was limited to one made field goal in the final 2:45 of the quarter, but the Rams got no closer than 18 for the final 9:25. Cornell ended the quarter on a 5-0 spurt but still trailed 60-37 with the fourth yet to play.
 
The teams traded baskets at the onset of the fourth quarter, though the outcome was never in doubt; Ripon's advantage was at least 20 for the entire quarter. Bree Miller made a layup with 1:20 left, giving Ripon a 78-45 lead – its largest of the game – as the Red Hawks coasted to another victory.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot 43.1% from the floor (28-of-65) while Cornell was just 15-of-48 (31.3%).
• The Red Hawks were 16-of-21 from the free throw line (76.2%).
• Ripon had 40 points in the paint to Cornell's 18, and 13 second-chance points to the Rams' six.
• The Red Hawks turned Cornell over 20 times, turning those into 32 points, and only committed eight giveaways themselves.
• Erin Knowles led all scorers with 18 points for Cornell.

UP NEXT
Ripon takes on third-seeded Grinnell at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 1 for the Midwest Conference Tournament crown and the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
 
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