Box Score

Evansville, Ind.- The 19th-ranked UW-Parkside women's basketball team moved into first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Eastern Division with a hard-fought 56-40 victory over Southern Indiana on Thursday night. The Ranger win, coupled with Indianapolis' loss at Northern Kentucky, moved Parkside a game ahead of both those teams in the division. The Rangers are now 18-4 overall and 11-3 in the league.

The win was also historic for the Ranger seniors who became the winningest class in school history. Kaitlyn Bettiga, Brittany Beyer, Jadee Rooney, and Amy Selk won their 83rd career game moving ahead of Brittany Hogen, the only senior on last year's squad. The Class of 2012 is now 83-29 (.741) at UW-Parkside.

Beyer led the offense on Thursday night with 17 points on 7-for-12 from the field. Three other Rangers joined her in double figures with Jaleesa Trussell scoring 11 while Amy Selk and Jadee Rooney had 10. Trussell and Selk also came up with eight rebounds.

The Ranger defense limited the Screaming Eagles to just 29.3% from the floor and forced 15 turnovers. USI was also just 3-for-21 from the three-point line.

The first half was a defensive struggle with neither team leading by more than three points.The lead changed hands six times before the Rangers scored the final four points of the half to take a 21-18 lead.

Cheryl Leyns and Selk got early lay-ups in the second half to push the lead to seven. Beyer knocked down a free throw with 17:13 to go to make it eight ... the largest lead of the night.

The Screaming Eagles wouldn't go away cutting it to three with 14:01 left on a three-pointer by Stephanie Carpenter. 

The Rangers responded however scoring six straight points to open a 36-27 lead. Selk, Trussell, and Beyer scored on three straight possessions to boost the advantage.

USI trimmed it back to five but the Rangers took care of business scoring 12 of the next 16 points to take over. Trussell had six points to key the run. Selk had a lay-up with 7:08 left to make it 48-35. The lead never dropped below double digits the rest of the night.

Parkside rebounded from a sluggish first half to shoot 56.0% in the second half. The Rangers also finished the night with 11 steals; four coming from Bettiga.

The team will finish up the road trip with a trip to Owensboro, Ky. on Saturday. The Rangers will dual with Kentucky Wesleyan at 1:00 p.m. The Panthers defeated the Rangers on a last-second shot earlier this season at the DeSimone Gymnasium.