Box Score

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The UW-Parkside Women's Basketball team earned the school's first-ever NCAA Basketball Tournament win defeating Missouri S&T, 73-55 on Friday afternoon in Houghton, MI. The Rangers hit 15 of their first 17 shots from the floor en route to establishing the highest single-game field percentage in school history at 69.6%. Parkside now advances to the second round on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. when they'll face Quincy University.

Jadee Rooney led the way with a game-high 26 points including four three-pointers. Kaitlyn Bettiga added a career-high 16 points to go with four assists, three steals, and no turnovers. Brittany Beyer also reached double figures with 15 points on 7-of-8 from the floor.

On the strength of the hot start from the field the Rangers were able to gain a double-digit advantage they were able to hold for much of the game. A Kristen Ruchti hook shot with 14:40 to go in the first half pushed the lead to 12-2. Beyer's layup with just over ten minutes to go ignited a 16-4 run and gave Parkside a 31-10 lead.

"I thought our kids came out and played with a lot of intensity from the get-go," said Head Coach Jenny Kenesie. "We were really aggressive early and took a lot of high-percentage shots."

Despite the early lead the Rangers were forced to deal with some first half adversity. All-GLVC post player Brittany Hogen left the game due to injury with just under five minutes to go and did not return. Parkside also had four players pick-up two fouls to force the coaching staff deeper into the bench.

"I thought our kids off the bench really stepped up and gave us quality minutes," said Kenesie.

MIssouri S&T used a 13-2 run of their own to cut the lead to 10 just before halftime. Bettiga answered with a last second driving lay-up to get Parkside back up by a dozen and regain some momentum. The bucket finished off a ten point half for Bettiga in arguably her best game of the season.

"Kaitlyn just did a great job today coming out and being aggressive," said Kenesie. "I thought she really set the tone for us and how we wanted to attack on the offensive end."

The Miners got off to a good start in the second half and trimmed the Parkside lead to six with 14:40 remaining. But the Rangers responded with a 13-2 run, with 11 of the points coming from Rooney.

"Jadee is definitely our playmaker and she made some big shots to get us back out in front," added Kenesie.

From that point on the Miners were never able to make another sustained run sending the Rangers to the second round.

Fareedah Washington led Missouri S&T with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Courtney Kemp added 10.

With the win Parkside also matches the school record for wins in a season with 23 tying the mark set a year ago. They will now compete for a trip to the Sweet 16 against 16th-ranked Quincy (26-3).