GRINNELL, Iowa – Grinnell College dominated Midwest Conference leader Ripon College in the first half of Wednesday night's women's basketball contest, but the Red Hawks bounced back in the last two quarters to secure a 62-51 win at Darby Gymnasium.

Grinnell, playing short-handed due to injury and illness, led 14-12 after one period and 30-24 at intermission. However, Ripon came back to tie things at 41-all after three quarters and pulled away in the fourth.

The Red Hawks used their size advantage to turn 17 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points while improving to 4-1 in the league and 6-5 overall. Grinnell is 1-4 in the MWC and 4-6 in all games.

Kayla Morrissey '18 had another strong outing for Grinnell, scoring a game-high 18 points to go with three assists and two steals. Regan Kasprak '19 and Hanna Kessel '19 added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Kasprak also had two steals, as did Abby Hellweg '19. That total was a career-high for Hellweg, as were her five team-high rebounds. Mikayla Kricfalusi '20 blocked a career-best three shots.

After building a lead in the first period, Grinnell fell behind by three in the second before going on a six-point run as Kasprak, Morrissey and Kessel all had buckets for a 20-17 edge.

Later leading 27-24, Morrissey converted a traditional three-point play to put Grinnell up by six heading into halftime.

Kasprak opened the third period with a basket to make it an eight-point lead, but Ripon roared back to tie things up. There was one more tie in the period, that coming at 41-all which led into the fourth quarter.

Ripon opened the last quarter with a basket, but Kasprak countered to make it 43-all. However, the Red Hawks followed with a nine-point run and never looked back from there.

Since Saturday's game at St. Norbert is cancelled, the Pioneers are off until Jan. 12 when they host Lake Forest College.