GALESBURG, Ill. - For just the second time in program history, the Ripon College women's basketball team has recorded three consecutive 17-win seasons. The Red Hawks accomplished that feat Saturday afternoon with a 60-57 overtime victory at Knox College, tying the seventh-highest single season win total in program history. Ripon also improves their conference record during that three-year run to an incredible 45-7.

Ripon (17-8, 16-2 MWC), which has already clinched their second consecutive Midwest Conference Championship and hosting rights to the MWC Tournament for the second consecutive year, came out firing, shooting 63 percent (10-16) in the first half of Saturday's game, en route to a 32-23 halftime lead. The Red Hawks' largest lead in the half came on a jumper by Natalie Geiger with just under six minutes remaining to put the team up by 13 points.

Ripon continued to lead by double-digits in the second half, but that lead was cut to nine on a pair of Knox free throws in the final seconds of the third quarter. The Red Hawks extended that lead to 14 with six and a half minutes to play, and would lead by 10 with under three remaining. That's when Knox (13-12, 10-8 MWC) mounted an enormous comeback, tying the score at 50 on a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to send the game to overtime.

In that extra period, Ripon never trailed, taking the lead on a pair of Geiger free throws and holding the Prairie Fire at arms length for the remainder of the game. The Red Hawks converted three of four free throws in the final 10 seconds to put the game on ice and eliminate Knox from postseason contention.

Senior Maggie Oimoen led Ripon with a game-high 22 pointson 9-of-15 shooting, moving her into second-place on Ripon's career scoring list with 1,281 points, which is 46 shy of the school record. Her eight rebounds move her into third place in program history with 659 for her career. Oimoen also ranks second in program history for career blocked shots with 119, which is just 11 shy of the school record. Megan Dille added 10 points, six rebounds, and a career-high three assists off the bench, while Geiger chipped in with eight points, three assists, and two steals.

Knox was led by Morgan Potter's 16 points, five rebounds, four blocks, and two steals, while Karlie Thorn added 14 points. Jarrelyn McCall finished with 13 points and six rebounds (three offensive).

Ripon will now get ready to host the MWC Tournament at Willmore Center for the second consecutive season next weekend. As the number one seed, the Red Hawks will play fourth-seeded St. Norbert Friday at 5 p.m. That will be followed by the other semifinal at 7 p.m. between number two seed Monmouth College and number three seed Lake Forest College. The MWC Tournament Championship Game will be played on Saturday at 3 p.m. between the winners of Friday's games. All games can be seen live, with LiveStats at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.