MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's women's basketball team battled down to the wire with defending Midwest Conference champion Ripon in Saturday's 59-52 setback inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
 
The Rams (8-9 overall, 7-3 MWC) notched a season-high 18 steals in a game they led for more than 21 minutes. Ripon (13-6 overall, 9-1 MWC) shot 50.0 percent in the second half and held off a late Cornell surge to maintain hold of second place in the league race, one game back of Knox.
 
The Red Hawks, winners of seven straight, built their biggest lead of the contest at 53-42 with 5:37 remaining. Cornell rallied for eight unanswered points and drew within 55-52 on a left-handed drive by Mia Murray with 1:11 to go.
 
Cornell came up empty on its final three offensive possessions and the Red Hawks closed it out with four free throws down the stretch.
 
Junior Kali March led Cornell's defensive effort with seven steals, jumping to eighth place on the program's single-season list with an MWC-best 70 swipes. Sophomore Karli Artman provided a spark off the bench with five steals and eight points.
 
Madison Wauters posted team-highs of 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Madison Osborn canned three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.
 
The Rams hurried Ripon into 27 total turnovers. The Red Hawks countered with a 37-23 rebounding advantage.
 
Ripon's starting front line of Bonnie Jensen, Alison Leslie and Skyylar Brescia accounted for 47 points and 21 boards.
 
Coming up – Cornell is on the road Tuesday to face in-state rival Grinnell (7-10 overall, 4-6 MWC). Tipoff is 5:30 p.m. The Rams won the first meeting of the season, 56-47.