The victory improved the Red Hawks to 17-6 on the season and 12-4 in the Midwest Conference. Beloit College fell to 8-14 on the year and 6-10 in league play.
The game was tight throughout the 40 minutes with the Buccaneers holding a narrow 26-25 advantage at the intermission. However, the Red Hawks, behind the shooting of Emmer and teammates Amanda Guay and Karalyn Dehn, came back in the final stanza to outscore Beloit 33-29 and secure the narrow three-point victory.
Emmer got a lot of offensive support from Guay and Dehn. Guay added 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Dehn tallied 10 points, four caroms and one assist. As a team, Ripon shot 40 percent (21-52) from the field, 18 percent (2-11) from long range and 70 percent (14-20) from the charity stripe.
Stephanie Davis had the hot hand for Beloit College. She scored 17 points with Becky Nilson tallying 12 points and pulling down nine rebounds. As a team, the Buccaneers shot 39 percent (18-46) from the floor, 36 percent (8-22) from beyond the arc and 100 percent (11-11) from the free-throw line.
The Red Hawks will now prepare for the 2005 Midwest Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament to be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25-26, at St. Norbert College. Ripon College will probably open the tournament on Friday at 5 p.m. with Lawrence University. St. Norbert, the MWC regular season champion, will probably play Lake Forest College at 7 p.m. The championship game is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday.
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