RIPON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University women's basketball team ran into a stingy Ripon College defense Friday and dropped a 62-46 decision in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Tournament at Weiske Gymnasium.
    In a grind-it-out game that saw the teams combine for just 44 points in the first half, Ripon held off a Lawrence challenge in the second half with some timely 3-point shooting.
    Mallory Meyer and Charlotte Brennan led Lawrence with 11 points apiece. Meyer went 5-for-10 from the floor and picked up two steals, two blocks and one rebound. Brennan went 3-for-8 from the floor and was 5-for-6 from the foul line. 
    Maggie Culver added eight points, and Emma Carlson had six for Lawrence (15-11), which was making its first appearance in the conference tournament since 2007.
    Lawrence was limited to 37.3 percent shooting for the game, and the Vikings were 0-for-6 from 3-point range. The Vikings forced 26 Ripon turnovers, and the Red Hawks shot 39.5 percent from the floor. The keys were Ripon went 6-for-13 from the 3-point range and shot a whopping 26 free throws and made 22. Lawrence was just 8-of-12 from the foul line.
    Natalie Rauwolf led Ripon (18-8) with 23 points and went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.
    The Red Hawks jumped on Lawrence early and led 17-8 before Kate Adams' steal and layup cut the margin to 17-10 after one quarter.
    Lawrence got a scare in the second quarter when rookie guard Charlotte Brennan was injured in the second quarter, but Brennan did return five minutes later. 
    The Vikings were down 22-12 when Brennan went out, and Ripon pushed the lead to 27-15 before Meyer's jumper trimmed the deficit to 27-17 at the break.
    Ripon built a 35-19 advantage in the third quarter before Lawrence clawed back into the game. The Vikings got a turnaround jumper from Carlson and Sophie Morey's driving layup cut the lead to 35-23.
    After a Ripon timeout, Culver hit a jumper and then made a turnaround jumper to trim the margin to 36-27 with 1:46 left in the third quarter.
    Ripon responded by scoring the final four points of the quarter, all from the foul line, to lead 40-27 heading to the fourth quarter. Laney Havlovitz hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter for Ripon, and the Red Hawks would hit two more 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the quarter.
    The Vikings never got closer than the final margin of 16 points.