Box Score

The UW-Parkside women's basketball team won its fourth straight game with a 62-36 triumph over Upper Iowa on Sunday afternoon at the DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers jumped out to a 21-4 lead and never looked back in securing their 23rd straight home victory. The 18th-ranked team in the country improved to 5-1 on the year while Upper Iowa fell to 0-4.
 
“The starters got us off to a good start with their defensive intensity,” said head coach Jenny Knight-Kenesie. “I was happy with the way they responded after a tough game yesterday.”
 
Jaleesa Trussell led three players in double figures with 12 points while Kaitlyn Bettiga and Brittany Beyer added 10. All 15 active players played at least five minutes with 12 different Rangers getting in the scoring column.
 
Bettiga knocked down a pair of three-pointers and had eight early points to get Parkside off to a good start. Trussell came off the bench to score nine points prior to the break.
 
Parkside used a stifling defensive effort to take control in the early going. The Rangers forced 15 first half turnovers (31 for the game) and limited the Peacocks to just 20 percent from the floor in building a 31-12 halftime cushion.
 
“Our guards did a great job from start to finish of applying a lot of pressure,” said Kenesie. “Everyone that came off the bench had the same mindset and I thought we really made them uncomfortable.”
 
The lead ballooned to as many as 29 points in the second half as the Rangers continued to get a balanced offensive effort. Kiah Simon came in to get six off the bench. Eight different players had at least four points in the contest. The lead was never threatened at Parkside closed out the big victory.
 
For the game the Rangers shot 43.6% compared to 23.4% for the Peacocks. Upper Iowa did win the rebounding battle 39-29 including 19 on the offensive end.
 
The team will now turn its attention to conference play with the GLVC opener up next on Thursday evening. The Rangers will host Kentucky Wesleyan College at 5:30 p.m. The Panthers reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago before falling to Quincy in the opening round.
 
“This week was good preparation going into conference play,” said Kenesie. “We've got two really good teams coming in here this week. We need to continue to get better every day and build off of two good performances this weekend.”