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DePERE, Wis. – Ripon was thinking upset Tuesday night, as they led conference-leading St. Norbert into the second half. In the end, St. Norbert would show why they are tops in the MWC, defeating Ripon 65-50, sending the Red Hawks to their seventh consecutive loss. That is Ripon's longest losing streak since the 1989-90 season.
St. Norbert (14-4, 8-1) looked like they would run away with the game early, getting out to an early 15-7 lead, but the Red Hawks (4-14, 1-10) battled back to score the next six points and cut the lead to two with under 10 minutes remaining. Ripon would take their first lead since the opening minutes on a Jeni Yaeger basket with about five minutes left in the half. After St. Norbert grabbed the lead back, Ripon's Emily Meyer would hit a 3-pointer to give the Red Hawks the edge. St. Norbert then scored five of the next seven points to end the half and take a four-point lead at intermission.
The Red Hawks came out on a mission in the second half, scoring the first 10 points of the period, including four each by Yaeger and Meyer. After a St. Norbert 3-pointer, Meyer connected on another basket to push Ripon's lead back to five points. That's as good as it would get for the Red Hawks, as they saw St. Norbert score the next 15 points over the next four minutes to take their largest lead to that point of 10 points. That lead was then cut in half thanks to Christina Schneider, who followed a lay up with a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions. Meyer cut the lead to four with under six and a half minutes left, but that's as close as they'd get the rest of the night. St. Norbert went on an 11-4 run to finish the game.
Meyer recorded her third double-double in the last four games for the Red Hawks, posting 11 points and 11 rebounds against the Green Knights. Yaeger added 10 points and eight rebounds, while Ashley Meister scored nine points, to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Ripon turned the ball over 27 times in the game, but outrebounded St. Norbert 41-33.
The Green Knights were led by Bri Hauge's 11 points off a bench that produced nearly half of her team's points. Linsey Propson was the only other player in double figures, with 10 points. St. Norbert shot 43 percent (26-60) in the game, including 48 percent (14-29) in the second half.
Ripon will now return home in search of a win at the friendly confines of Wyman Gymnasium in Storzer Center. They will play Illinois College on Friday at 5:00, before hosting Knox College on Saturday at 1:00. Both games can be seen live on www.midwestconference.tv. Saturday's game will also feature an appearance by J.J. Jumper, the official mascot of the NCAA.
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