Ripon RIPW 8-9, 7-1 MWC

Grinnell College GCW 6-9, 3-5 MWC

Ripon RIPW

8-9, 7-1 MWC

Final

Jan. 22, 2022

Grinnell College GCW

6-9, 3-5 MWC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Ripon RIPW	19	15	12	12	58
Grinnell College GCW	17	18	16	14	65

Summary
Box Score

Cory Hall

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 1/22/2022 6:21:00 PM | Ted Schultz

GC women's basketball displays its mettle with biggest victory in recent history

GRINNELL, Iowa - A glance at the statistics showed a daunting task awaiting the Grinnell College women's basketball team Saturday afternoon.

The Pioneers were entertaining Midwest Conference unbeaten Ripon College, which had won nine in a row against the Pioneers dating back to 2016 including a 17-point decision earlier this month.

But Grinnell showed the past is exactly that - the past - and instead went to work in the present. The result was the Pioneers' biggest win in recent history, a 65-58 decision at Darby Gymnasium.

Grinnell got 20 points from Erin Lillis '24 to go along with three assists and two steals. After that it was three women playing in their first seasons with Grinnell, as Nicole Ware '25 tallied 14 points, Aiyana Rockwell '24 had 12 and Sara Booher '25 put in nine. Rockwell was deadly from 3-point range, hitting 4-of-6 shots, and her point total was a career-high as was Booher's.

Aidan Coalson '22 grabbed six rebounds and Sofia Ahooja '22 and Ware each had three assists.

Grinnell, 3-5 in the Midwest Conference and 6-9 overall, trailed by six late in the first period before rallying to slice the gap to 19-17 on Rockwell's trey at the end of the quarter.

The Pioneers trailed by five midway through the second quarter and were still down three before Lillis made a jumper and free throw to put the hosts ahead 35-34 at halftime.

Grinnell opened the third quarter with a flurry, twice going up by seven and leading 51-46 heading into the final period.

Ripon, 7-1 in the MWC and 8-9 overall, refused to go away and twice made it a one-point game in the fourth quarter. But the Pioneers refused to fold, combining solid defense and a timely layup by Booher and two free throws by Ahooja to go ahead 61-56 with 2:17 left.

The Red Hawks later converted two free throws to pull within three and forced a Grinnell turnover, but the Pioneers responded by forcing a turnover of their own and Ware was fouled with 28 seconds left. She calmly sank both shots to push Grinnell ahead 64-48 to put the game out of reach.

Grinnell forced a missed shot shortly after that and got a turnover in the waning seconds to secure the victory, sending the team and fans into celebration.

Grinnell plays at Illinois College next Saturday.

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