La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's basketball team fell, 82-67, to Ripon College (Wis.) Saturday afternoon in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles drop to 2-2 on the season while the Red Hawks improve to 1-1. 

UWL took a 6-2 lead on a Paige Schumann jumper when Ripon (Wis.) went on a 10-0 run to take a 12-6 advantage on Bonnie Jensen's layup with 3:16 left in the first quarter. The Red Hawks led, 18-14, after the first quarter.

With the game tied, 20-20, Ripon's (Wis.) Laney Havlovitz hit a three-pointer to give the Red Hawks a three-point advantage with 6:31 remaining in the first half. Kailee Meeker's layup cut the lead to 23-22 and she followed with a three-pointer to extend the Eagles' lead to 25-23. Annika Gustafson's layup and another three-point field goal from Meeker with 4:08 left extended UWL's lead to 30-23 as the Eagles completed a 10-0 run. Ella Ten Pas made one-of-two free throws for Ripon (Wis.) to cut it to 33-24, but back-to-back three-pointers by Meeker made it 36-24. The Red Hawks cut the lead to 40-31 at halftime.

Trailing 44-35 with 8:02 remaining in the second half, Ripon (Wis.) used an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 44-43 on a Havlovitz three-point field goal with 5:54 left. Lauryn Milne's jumper gave UWL a 46-43 advantage, but Ripon (Wis.) scored the next five points on a Jensen jumper and Bella Opelt three-pointer to take a 48-46 lead. Meeker scored five consecutive points to give the Eagles a 51-48 lead with 3:27 remaining. UWL took a 56-51 lead with 1:59 left on a Meeker three-point field goal and the Eagles took a 56-53 lead after three quarters.  

Ten Pass gave Ripon (Wis.) a 57-56 lead on a layup wiht 9:16 left and the Red Hawks would not trail the rest of the game. Ripon (Wis.) went on a 7-1 run to take a 65-58 lead with 7:48 remaining. Grace Knupp's layup with 5:21 left cut the deficit to 67-62, but the Red Hawks went on a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 74-62 with 3:48 remaining. UWL could get no closer than eight points the rest of the game.

UWL shot 36.8% from the field Saturday, including 28.6% (six-of-21) from three-point range, and 68.8% (11-of-16) at the free throw line. Meeker led UWL with 32 points, going 11-of-19 from the field, including six-of-seven from three-point range. She was four-of-four at the line. Meeker's 32 points are tied for seventh-most in single-game school history. Jill Murray scored a school record 36 points against UW-Stevens Point on December 13, 2000. Meeker's 32 points are the most for UWL since Emma Gamoke had 34 points versus UW-Eau Claire on February 9, 2019. 

Knupp finished with a career-high 16 points and five steals for UWL on Saturday while Milne and Madisyn Kilboten tied for the team lead with four rebounds.

Ripon (Wis.) shot 52.9% from the field, including 33.3% (five-of-15) from three-point range, and 74.2% (23-of-31) at the line. Jensen led the Red Hawks with 20 points while Ten Pas finished with 17 points and game-high 11 rebounds. Havlovitz had 13 points and seven rebounds.

UWL returns to action Monday, November 20 hosting Martin Luther College (Minn.) at 6 p.m.