GAME STATS Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton women's basketball team earned its third-consecutive win on Tuesday evening with a homecourt victory against Ripon College, 50-49. Wheaton improves to 3-1 on the season, while the Red Hawks fall to 3-2 on the year.

Junior guard Kate Oliver led the Thunder with 18 points, five steals and two assists. Senior Annika Richardson scored 13 points with, with four assists. Three of Richardson's five field goals were three-pointers. Guard Alyssa Faberowski contributed 12 points with two steals.

Wheaton's ability behind the arc was critical tonight as the hosts made eight three-pointers, while Ripon was 2-for-10 from three-point range. The Thunder shot 32.1% (17-of-53) from the field, including 26.6% (8-for-28) behind the arc. The Red Hawks posted a 41.3% (19-of-46) field goal percentage, with the 20% (2-for-10) effort from three-point range. Wheaton had a 66.7% (8-for-12) effort at the free throw line and Ripon shot 52.9% (9-of-17) at the charity stripe.

Ripon dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Thunder 42-24, including an 11-5 edge on the offensive glass. The Red Hawks had 23 turnovers tonight, allowing Wheaton to capitalize on a 16-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

Ripon's Ella Ten Pas was a force tonight for the guests as she scored 20 of the Red Hawks' 49 points. She also collected 24 rebounds, including 10 offensive boards.

Wheaton jumped out to a 5-0 lead in a sluggish first quarter for both teams. The Thunder led 8-6 with 2:54 left in the quarter when the Red Hawks out together a 7-2 run to close out the quarter as Ripon led 13-10 through one period. Oliver scored eight of Wheaton's 10 first-quarter points as she shot 3-for-3 from the field, including 1-for-1 behind the three-point arc. She also added two steals.

The Red Hawks increased their lead to 17-10 over the first three minutes of the second quarter. Faberowski made a three-pointer followed by a basket for Richardson that cut the guests' lead to 17-15 with 5:46 remaining before halftime. The contest was tied 22-22 at halftime.

Oliver led the Thunder with 10 first-half points. Ten Pas led Ripon with nine points in the first half and 17 first-half rebounds.

Ripon led early in the third quarter, including a 29-26 advantage for the guests with 4:08 remaining in the third when Richardson made the first of two back-to-back three-pointers. Richardson's trifectas sparked a 12-4 Thunder run to close out the third quarter as Wheaton led 38-33 heading into the final quarter.

The Thunder continued to build the lead in the fourth quarter as the hosts' largest lead of the game was a 10-point bulge at 47-37 with 6:00 left in the game. The hosts led 49-42 with 2:55 left in the game when Ripon's Halle Van Horn made a layup to spark a 9-1 Red Hawks run to close out the game.

Ten Pas scored a put-back basket with 36-seconds left to cut Wheaton's lead to one-point at 50-49. Wheaton missed a layup with six-seconds left in the game and Ripon had two shot attempts in the closing seconds that fell short as the Thunder escaped with the one-point win.

The Thunder take to the road for their next six games. Wheaton's next home contest is against North Park on December 14. Wheaton is at the UW-Oshkosh Classic this weekend to start the road sequence. The Thunder play UW-Platteville on Friday night at 5:00 p.m., followed by the tournament finale on Saturday afternoon against UW-Oshkosh.