RIPON, Wis. - Grinnell College's women's basketball team pushed Midwest Conference leader Ripon College to the edge Saturday afternoon, nearly ending the Red Hawks' nine-game home winning streak.

However, Ripon scored the game's final four points on its way to a 50-47 victory as Grinnell just missed winning on the Red Hawks' court for the first time in eight years. Despite the setback, the Pioneers' defense proved stellar as they held the Red Hawks to one of their lower scoring outputs of the season.

Grinnell (11-7, 5-4 MWC) rallied after spotting the hosts an eight-point edge late in the third period. With her team trailing 33-25, Kelsey Ericksen '26 gave the visitors some momentum by hitting a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in the frame to make it a five-point margin heading into the fourth quarter.

Nikki Ware '25 and Bailey Strovers '27 opened the final frame with treys and Cassidy Pak '28 converted a layup, completing Grinnell's 11-point run that resulted in a 36-33 Pioneer lead with 6:39 left.

After Ripon tied it at 37-all a bit later, Ware drained a 3-pointer with 5:27 left. Ripon answered with a basket to reduce its gap to one, but Nora Lynch '28 delivered on a trey for a 43-39 Grinnelll lead with 4:54 remaining.

Ripon (14-4, 8-1 MWC) followed with a run of its own and went ahead 44-43 before Sara Booher '25 cashed in on a jumper with 3:21 left. The teams traded baskets in the next minute, with Grinnell going ahead 47-46 on Booher's layup at the 2:40 mark.

The Pioneers forced two Ripon misses, but couldn't score themselves, before a layup by the hosts with 35 seconds left gave them the lead for good. The Pioneers followed with a miss and Ripon got some breathing room with two free throws with 8 ticks left on the clock. A late field goal attempt by Grinnell was off the mark to preserve the victory for Ripon.

Grinnell led 10-6 after one period, but Ripon came on after that to hold a 22-20 edge at halftime.

Strovers posted her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 boards, going 4-of-8 from 3-point land in the process. She now has 54 career treys, which ranks 20th in program history.

Booher added eight points and 12 boards, moving up to fifth in career rebounds at Grinnell with 668. She has 196 boards this season, 14th-best in GC history.

Booher also led the team in assists with four, while Ware had three steals - moving her up to 11th in program history with 113 - and Skylar Thomas '26 and Ericksen two steals each. Ericksen's total is a career-best. 

Grinnell heads to Galesburg, Ill., on Tuesday to face Knox College. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m.