RIPON, Wis. -- The Ripon College women's basketball team built a double-digit lead midway through the second half and pulled away for a 66-51 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University Wednesday at the Storzer Center.
Lawrence star Caresse Reiland paced all scorers with 24 points, and she added five rebounds and four blocks. Already without injured starters Kelly Mulcahy and Erin Henzi, the Vikings also played without starter Carrie Van Groll, who missed the game due to a death in the family.
Emily Meyer led Ripon (7-14, 4-10 MWC) with 13 points and Jessica DeHamer added 12.
Ripon led by as many as 14 points in the first half before the Vikings (4-16, 1-12) rallied. Lawrence went on a 10-2 run, with Laura Aerts scoring all six of her points in that stretch, to cut Ripon's lead to 29-23 with 3:26 left in the first half. Ripon would hold on to lead 35-29 at the break.
The Red Hawks then pulled away midway through the second half. Ripon led 42-34 after Annie Kaiser's 3-pointer for the Vikings, but Ripon went on a 9-2 run to grab a 51-36 edge with 8:10 remaining.
Lawrence would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way, and Ripon would lead by as many as 18 points late in the game.
Lawrence returns home to face Beloit College Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.