Furious Fourth-Quarter Rally Lifts St. Norbert Past Ripon

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, January 30, 2018 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

RIPON - St. Norbert College rallied from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter and stunned Ripon College with a 60-57 win at Willmore Center in the only meeting between the two rivals this season.

The Green Knights (6-4) found themselves down 43-26 with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter before beginning their rally. St. Norbert made five of six free throws late in the period to trail 43-31 at the end of the quarter.

St. Norbert cut the deficit down to single digits when Sarah Wiseman converted a conventional three-point play with 9:19 remaining. The Green Knights' deficit fluctuated between seven and nine points until Wiseman got a steal and a layup to get within 50-45 with 4:49 to go. The Red Hawks boosted their lead back to seven at 53-46 with 3:05 left and still led 55-49 with 2:22 to go.

The Green Knights would come again, getting a layup from Wiseman to get within 55-51 with 2:14 left. St. Norbert forced another turnover, with Sarah Neumann getting a steal and layup with 2:04 to go. The Green Knights then got a quick defensive stop, and Hayley Winzenried's 3-pointer with 1:37 to go put St. Norbert ahead 56-55.

St. Norbert forced Ripon into a miss, and the Red Hawks followed with two missed free throws. Macie Zurfluh's jumper with 1:05 left put the Green Knights up 58-55. Alyassa Burgess scored for Ripon with 1:03 left, but Christine Olijnyk's putback with 31 seconds left put St. Norbert back up three. Ripon had two potential game-tying three-point attempts in the final 10 seconds miss the mark, and St. Norbert sealed victory in its wild comeback.

The Green Knights trailed 27-23 at halftime and did not make a field goal in the third quarter, but stayed in the game by making 8 of 10 free-throw attempts in the period. St. Norbert, which was 8-for-29 from the floor in the first three quarters, was 10-for-13 from the floor and 8 of 11 at the free-throw line in a 26-point fourth quarter.

St. Norbert shot 42.9 percent (18-for-42) from the floor for the game. Wiseman finished with 19 points, while Neumann and Zurfluh finished with 12 points apiece.

Ripon shot 37.5 percent (21-for-56) from the floor. Emma McDonald led the Red Hawks with 14 points.