Lady Hawks seek repeat result of last year, road goes through St. Norbert

For the second year in a row, the Ripon College women's basketball team has qualified for the Midwest Conference Champion-ship tournament. With a record of 17-6 (13-3), Ripon finished second in the conference behind St. Norbert who led the way with a record of 20-3 (14-2). Ripon ended their season on a high note, winning their final two games. "We are not satisfied with a second place finish in the conference," senior Jessica DeHamer stated. "But now we have something to prove in the tournament."

While a berth in the tournament has been secure for weeks now, Ripon wasn't looking as strong as it had most of the season for much of the time since the team clinched their spot.

A game that virtually decided the #1 seed and host of the tourna-ment against St. Norbert turned into a blowout, and a very disappointing loss to Beloit followed in the wake.

After the lackadaisical week, Ripon desperately needed to regain some momentum heading into the postseason. A?visit Feb. 17 by Carroll provided the opportunity, and the defending Midwest Conference champions were quick to seize it. DeHamer led her team with 15 points to go along with a game-high 8 rebounds, but it was the flocking Red Hawk defense who decided the contest, holding the Pioneers to 27 percent shooting and confounding them in the second half especially. After intermission, the visitors made only seven of their 31 shots.

The Lady Hawks' 17th win this season came against one of the school's biggest rivals, the Lawrence Vikings. Senior Jessica DeHamer and junior Emily Meyer were the first to score and put Ripon ahead 6-0. Ripon took the lead and never looked back. Sophomore Erin Lind chipped in by putting up 13 points in the opening half. At the end of the first half, Ripon had a nice lead 37-19. To add fuel to the fire, the Red Hawks went on a 16-0 run in the second half and did not allow a point for the first eight minutes. When the final buzzer rang, the massacre was over and Ripon was victorious 68-51. Lind led the team in points and rebounds with 23 and 9, respectively while DeHamer put up 10 points and Emily Meyer scored 9.

"Entering the tournament with a win is a great feeling. It gives us something to build off of and go into the tourneys with a win is always good because it keeps our confidence high," DeHamer commented.

The women's team is now preparing for the Midwest Conference Tournament which takes place next weekend and is hosted by St. Norbert College. Their opponent: the #3 seed Lake Forest College. Lake Forest is one of three schools to give Ripon a loss this season, the others being St. Norbert and Beloit College. Tip off is Friday, Feb. 26, at 3:30 p.m. On the other end of the bracket, St. Norbert faces Illinois College.

The winners of the games on Friday face each other on Saturday. Last season, Ripon won the tournament and earned a bid into the NCAA tournament. The team certainly had to earn that spot, as they won in DePere, Wis. defeating the hosts of the tournament, St. Norbert 56-49. If Ripon and St. Norbert both win their games in this year's opening round, fans would see a highly anticipated repeat of last season.

"It's a great feeling to play for a chance to go to the NCAA tournament," said DeHamer. "This is what we worked for all season so it is a great accomplishment to reach our goal of getting there again, but now we have to work hard to reach our next goal of winning."

Being that the game takes place on their court, home field advantage will definitely be in the favor of the Green Knights. Let's see the Red Hawks on the road and give support to the women's team when it matters the most.



Geoff Bruce contributed to this story