Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
 
RIPON, Wisconsin – Longtime rivals Ripon College and Lawrence University will square off in the Midwest Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament Final on Saturday, February 28 at 3:00 p.m. inside Weiske Gymnasium on the campus of Ripon College.
 
18th-ranked and top seeded Ripon got past fourth seeded Cornell College, 65-58, in the first semifinal on Friday night. Second seeded Lawrence cruised over third seeded Knox College, 76-47, in the second semifinal.
 
Ripon led for nearly the entirety of the first half in semifinal one, with Cornell’s last lead coming at 10-9. Though the Red Hawks were held scoreless for the final 1:42 in the half, Ripon led 36-28 at the break after leading by as many as 13 in the frame.
 
Cornell made things interesting in the second half, cutting a 14-point, fourth quarter deficit down to four with under a minute left in the game. However, Ripon salted the game away late to advance to Saturday’s tournament final.
 
Halle Van Horn led Ripon with 14 points, while Laney Havlovitz (12), Natalie Rauwolf (11) and Cali Havlovitz (10) also scored in double figures. Heidi Jorgensen had a game-high 19 points for the Rams, who also received 18 points from Erin Knowles and 13 from Caroline Kron.
 
Cornell ends its season with a record of 15-10 (9-7 MWC).
 
Lawrence broke open a close first quarter with a decisive second stanza in the second semifinal. Clinging to an 18-15 lead after 10 minutes, the Vikings outscored Knox 20-6 in the second quarter, pulling away for good on the strength of an 11-0 quarter-opening run.
 
Knox never threatened in the second half as Lawrence led by 28 through three quarters of action. Holding the Prairie Fire to 0-of-6 shooting from three-point range throughout the game, the Vikings led for all but 21 seconds en route to the win.
 
Charlotte Brennan, Kate Adams and Sophie Morey each scored a game-high 12 points for Lawrence. Nayeli Nidez Acuna led Knox with 11 points.
 
Knox wraps up its 2025-26 campaign with an overall record of 13-13 (11-5 MWC).
 
Ripon is looking for its third consecutive MWC Tournament title, while Lawrence is searching for its first tournament crown and first NCAA Tournament berth since 1999. The host Red Hawks took both meetings against the Vikings this season – 67-34 at home on January 13 and 68-53 in Appleton on February 4.