3/13/25 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Thursday
13 March 2025 Sports
Boys Sectional Basketball Schedule
Lomira at Marshall
Kaukauna at Kimberly
Fond du Lac at Oshkosh North
Freedom at Wrightstown
Platteville at Wisconsin Dells
Cambria-Friesland at Oakfield
Girls State Semi-Finals Schedule
Laconia vs Oostburg
Elk Mound vs Xavier
Ripon Red Hawks
Last week Friday, one of the most successful seasons in Ripon College Women’s Basketball history came to a close after losing to the UW-Stout Blue Devils 87-57 in the first round of the NCAA D3 Tournament.
After their record breaking year, Ripon (23-5) went on to win their 7th consecutive Midwest Conference title and were looking to get their first tournament win since 2005. They came a little short of that goal, however, as they just couldn’t get past the physicality of the Blue Devils.
“Overall disappointed in my ability to prepare us for the competitive level of Stout and the competitive environment we were playing in,” Ripon head coach Lauren Busalacchi said. “Their physicality and ability to seemingly never miss really pushed us back on our heels and it didn’t seem like we ever recovered mentally, as well as physically, especially on the defensive end. It was poor timing to not be close to our best and I feel badly about not helping us prepare better.”
Less than three minutes into the game, the Red Hawks fell behind the Blue Devils 9-0 and were down 19-4 towards the end of the first quarter.
The Blue Devils continued to stretch pout the lead to enter half time up 35-18. A big reason for the 17 point lead was the teams shooting percentages. UW-Stout was able to convert on 44% of their shots in the first half while Ripon struggled to shoot and only connected on 25% of their attempts.
During the second half, whenever Ripon seemed to get something going and start to close the gap, the Blue Devils always had an answer. Ripon was down by 19 late in the third, and then the Blue Devils went on a 10-2 run to extend the lead from 54-35 to 64-37. Ripon wouldn’t be able to close that gap anymore and eventually fell to the Blue Devils 87-57.
While it is a sad end to the historic season, the future is bright for the Red Hawks. “Hopefully, our returners took a lot away mentally and physically from our UW-Stout game and the competitiveness that’s needed in that type of environment,” Busalacchi said. “We think our program is in an exciting spot and the areas for improvement are a challenge that we need to start working on asap, including being more physical, creating space better, guarding space better on the defensive end, becoming better shooters and the daily challenge of making our relationships even better than they were this season. We will be welcoming new team members within the next several months and losing a great class. There are definitely new roles that need to be filled and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to figure it out together.”
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