RIPON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University women's basketball team rallied Saturday, but Ripon College held off the Vikings for a 68-54 Midwest Conference win at Weiske Gymnasium.
    Ripon led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but Lawrence closed to within five points multiple times before the Red Hawks pulled away in the final four minutes in the regular-season finale.
    Ripon will host the Midwest Conference Tournament on Feb. 28-March 1, and Lawrence will play Grinnell College in the tournament semifinals next Friday. The tournament winner receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
    Charlotte Brennan and Kate Adams scored 12 points apiece to pace Lawrence (18-7, 12-4 MWC), and Brennan handed out a game-high five assists. Adams went 4-for-6 from the floor, including 2-for-4 from 3-point range.
    Lawrence's Mallory Meyer scored nine points and added two rebounds and now has 996 points for her career. Sophie Morey picked up eight points for the Vikings and collected five rebounds. 
    Ella Ten Pas led Ripon (21-4, 15-1) with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
    Ripon led 32-18 in the opening half, but the Vikings scored the final five points of the second quarter. Maggie Culver hit a 3-pointer and Caroline Sharpe converted a pair of free throws to trim the margin to 32-23 at the break.
    Lawrence opened the second half with two baskets from Morey and another from Culver to cut Ripon's lead to 34-29. The Red Hawks would push the lead back to 11 at one point, and Lawrence cut it back to five at 46-41.
    A pair of Brennan free throws to end the third quarter and a jumper from Meyer to start the fourth trimmed the margin to 51-45 early in the fourth quarter. Ripon then held the Vikings scoreless for nearly seven minutes to pull away.