No. 12 Hope evades Ripon, advances in NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament

The No. 12-ranked Hope Flying Dutch women’s basketball team survived and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament with a 65-54 victory over the Ripon Red Hawks Friday night at Neal Fieldhouse.

Trailing 9-8 late in the opening quarter, the Dutch used an 8-0 spurt to end the period up 16-9. Back-to-back three-pointers from Sydney Vis and Karsen Karlblom gave the Dutch the boost they needed while they were also able to keep Ripon’s leading scorer Ella Ten Pas in check.

The feisty Red Hawks would not go away without a fight, aggressively attacking the basket. They cut the deficit down after a seven-point run of their own with Bella Opelt scoring five of the seven points.

The three-point shot kept the Dutch in the lead as Hope hit four more in the second quarter, two coming from Karlblom, allowing the Dutch to take a slim 33-28 lead into the half.

Hope tried to pull away after halftime, extending the lead to much as 13, hitting two more threes to make it eight on the night.

The Red Hawks made one more run at the Dutch to start the final quarter with a quick 8-2 outburst. Jada Garner had the answer for Hope, scoring eight big points down the stretch to seal the victory.

Hope moves to 25-3 on the season, while Ripon’s season ends at 19-9. Garner and Olivia Bellows each had 15 for the Dutch to lead the scoring attack, while Raven Jemison grabbed eight rebounds. Natalie Rauwolf had 13 for Ripon and Opelt added 11. Turnovers were a big key as Ripon turned it over 21 times.

Team Stats

Individual Stat Leaders

Scoring - (H) Bellows 15, Garner 15, Karlblom 9, Vis 8, Kaiser 5, Lee 5, Jemison 4, Maynard 4; (Ri) Rauwolf 13, Opelt 11, Fahrney 9, Jensen 8, Havlovitz 6, Hartmann 4, Miller 2, Ten Pas 1

Rebounding - (H) Jemison 8, Karlblom 4, Bellows 4; (R) Havlovitz 7 Rauwolf 6, Ten Pas 5

Assists - (H) Garner 4, Karlblom 3, Maynard 3 ; (R) Ten Pas 5, Havlovitz 5