Behind a stingy defense and career-high 14 points from freshman guard Taylor Farrell, the Lake Forest College women's basketball team defeated Ripon College 53-41 at home Tuesday night.

Farrell, who had scored 11 points in her last four games combined, also had a career-best four steals and matched her career-high with seven rebounds. She shot 6-for-10 from the field and played all but four minutes in the contest.

Forester senior forward K.C. Stralka led the team with 17 points and 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the year. She matched the second-highest made free throw total in team history with 13 while missing just twice from the line.

Both teams shot 31 percent from the field on the night. Lake Forest did not make a three-pointer but connected on 25 of 35 foul shots while the Red Hawks were just 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. The Foresters out-rebounded their guests 42-33 with sophomore guard Kelsey Schmitt falling just one shy of her career-high in that category with nine.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first quarter, which ended with the Red Hawks ahead 16-15. Stralka was 6-for-6 from the line and led the team with eight points in the period.

The Foresters were outscored by one again in the second quarter. A layup by Farrell in the final seconds made the score 27-25 in favor of Ripon at halftime.

Stralka and Farrell combined for nine of Lake Forest's 11 points in the third quarter and the Forester defense limited Ripon to just seven points in the period.

Ripon regained the lead (39-37) with 7:11 remaining but did not score again until making a basket with just 39.6 seconds on the clock. The Foresters scored 11 points during that span and added five more near the end of the game on three free throws and a layup by Farrell.

The victory improved Lake Forest's overall record to 7-5 and kept the Foresters tied for second place in the Midwest Conference standings with a league mark of 6-2. Ripon fell to 9-5 overall and 5-4 in the league.

Lake Forest will put its four-game winning streak on the line Saturday afternoon against visiting Grinnell College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.