Box Score

The UW-Parkside women's basketball team dropped its conference opener 68-67 to Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday night. Bianca Barton's slashing lay-up with 0.3 seconds left turned out to be the game-winner as the Rangers dropped their first game at home since January of 2009. The loss drops Parkside to 5-2 overall while the Panthers improved to 4-2.

Parkside took the lead with 5.8 seconds left on two free throws by Amy Selk after she grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic and was fouled taking it back up. That set the stage for Barton who weaved through traffic and tossed the ball off the glass to give the Panthers the upset.

Brittany Beyer led the Rangers with 23 points and Jadee Rooney added 17. Danielle Slivka had a huge night on the glass pulling down 15 rebounds including six offensively.

In an extremely physical contest the Rangers were able to build a 37-26 lead at the break thanks to a big first half from Beyer. The senior from New London scored 16 first half points on 7-for-11 from the field. Her last points of the half moved her into third place on the school's all-time scoring list passing Amanda Gibson.

But Kentucky Wesleyan came out into the second half strong using a 17-3 run to take the lead five minutes into the half. The Panthers started the half hitting their first eight shots while Parkside struggled at 1-for-8.

The Panthers opened up a 50-45 lead with just under 11 minutes to go when the Rangers got jumpstarted by a Rooney three-pointer. Slivka followed with a deep three of her own to help the Rangers regain the lead and start a back-and-forth battle.

Karly Rhoads tied the game with a lay-up with just over a minute to go and after a Ranger miss, Katie Behrens knocked down a free throw to give the Panthers a 64-63 lead with 55 seconds left.

Rooney answered for the Rangers as she got the lead back at 65-64 with a driving lay-up with just over 30 seconds to go.

But on the other end Behrens was able to step through traffic with 14 ticks on the clock to give KWC a one point lead. That's when Selk responded with her free throws.

KWC was led by Behrens who had 14 points. Barton joined her in double figures with 11.

The Rangers will return to action Saturday when they host Southern Indiana. The game starts at 1:00 p.m. in the DeSimone Gymnasium.