RIPON, Wis.– Cold shooting by the Wheaton College women's basketball team proved too difficult to overcome on Tuesday evening as the Thunder dropped a 60-47 road contest at Ripon College.

Wheaton ran their record to 2-3 on the season while the Red Hawks improved to 4-0.

First-half shooting woes put the Thunder in a precarious position – the visitors only converted 21 percent of their field goal attempts in that time (4-19). On the other end of the court, Ripon had a hot hand throughout the opening 20 minutes, converting at a 48-percent clip. The home side raced out to a 10-2 lead to start the game and never looked back. Midway through the second quarter, the margin swelled to 33-10.

A layup at the second-quarter buzzer from Wheaton's Chloe Kostka made the score 35-16 heading into halftime. The Red Hawks kept their foot on the gas in the third quarter, making half their field goals to maintain a comfortable advantage even as the Thunder found more shooting success. Ripon's biggest strength on the night came in the post – the hosts dominated points in the paint by a 38-10 margin.

The fourth quarter saw Wheaton put up 18 points to Ripon's 10. Much of it came from the free throw line as the Thunder made 11 of 12 attempts in the period. Lydia Brogan contributed six of those free throws off the bench.

The final box scored saw the Thunder shoot 27 percent from the field (12-44), 22 percent from three-point range (5-23), and 82 percent from the free throw stripe (18-22). The Red Hawks converted 44 percent of their field goals, 33 percent of their threes (2-6) and 61 percent of their free throws (16-26). Ripon won the rebounding battle 34-25 and committed fewer turnovers (20 to 26).

Kate Oliver was the high scorer for Wheaton with 14 points while adding three rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals. Petra Trumbach snagged 11 rebounds to go with her seven points. Kostka, Brogan, Jenna Hunter and Lauryn Ham contributed six points each. Hunter snatched three steals and five rebounds as well.

The Thunder are back on the road this Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. tip-off at No. 3-ranked University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.