St. Norbert Controls First-Place Red Hawks

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, January 25, 2020 | Women's Basketball
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College never trailed and stayed in control throughout as the Green Knights picked up their biggest win under first-year coach Amanda Leonhard-Perry with a 50-41 win over first-place Ripon College on Connie Tilley Court at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.

The Green Knights won for the fourth time in their last six games while snapping Ripon's 18-game winning streak against Midwest Conference foes.

St. Norbert jumped out to a pair of five-point leads in the first quarter before settling on a 9-9 tie after the first quarter, the only tie of the game. The Green Knights then opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run to take control. Macie Zurfluh got things started with a layup, followed by baskets from Sarah Neumann and Ava Moldenhauer. Zurfluh then canned another jumper before Hannah Ciesielczyk buried a 3-pointer and then had a putback basket for a 22-9 lead with 4:48 left in the quarter. Ripon would go on a run of its own, finishing the period on a 7-0 spurt to trail 22-16 at halftime.

Ripon got to within three points twice early in the third quarter before St. Norbert responded with a pair of Ciesielczyk free throws and a conventional three-point play from Zurfluh for a 30-22 lead with 5:42 left in the period. The Red Hawks got back to within 34-28 by the end of the quarter.

St. Norbert kept its lead and eventually built an 11-point advantage following a conventional three-point play by Olivia DeCleene for a 44-33 lead with 3:39 left. Ripon would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way, as St. Norbert made 6 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter.

St. Norbert shot 36 percent (18-for-50) from the floor and committed just 13 turnovers. Zurfluh led the Green Knights with 15 point, while Ciesielczyk added nine points.

Ripon shot 35.7 percent (15-for-42) from the floor and was 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) at the free-throw line. Alyassa Burgess led the Red Hawks with nine points.