FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 13, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team returns to DeSimone Gymnasium in a three-way tie for third place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division. The Rangers look to climb the ladder starting on Thursday, opening up their final homestand of the regular season against McKendree University before facing Bellarmine University on Saturday.

The Rangers tip off against the Bearcats at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday inside DeSimone Gymnasium while tipping off against the Knights at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats, video and audio will be available for both games. Steve Kratochvil will be providing play-by-play for both games with Jim Kramer providing color commentary on the audio feed available online and on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (14-7, 8-5 GLVC) heads into Thursday having won five of its last six games after splitting a pair of road games last week. The Rangers fell 69-57 to Kentucky Wesleyan College on Feb. 7 before downing University of Southern Indiana 58-40 two days later to complete the season sweep of the Screaming Eagles.

Against KWC, the Rangers and Panthers battled back and forth the opening 15 minutes of play with the lead switching hands eight times. Host Kentucky Wesleyan utilized a 15-2 run towards the end of the half and held a nine-point lead at the break. KWC mushroomed its lead to 22 points with just over 10 minutes remaining courtesy of a 16-3 run. The Rangers outscored KWC 23-13 over the final 10 minutes but the damage was already done. Kiah Simon paced the Rangers with a career-high 19 points.

The Rangers rebounded on Saturday, holding a 40-24 rebounding edge and limiting the host Screaming Eagles to shooting just 29.3 percent (12-for-41) in the 18-point rout.

Jenna Endisch powers the Ranger offense, averaging 13.9 points per game. Sierra West adds 9.4 ppg along with a team-best 5.5 assists per game while Gaby Bronson contributes 9.0 ppg. Danielle Slivka leads UWP on the boards, tallying 7.0 rebounds per game while adding 7.5 ppg on the offensive end.

Feb. 14 vs. McKendree University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Bearcats have met just twice with series tied at one game apiece. UW-Parkside and McKendree began the series during the 1992-1993 season with the Bearcats coming away with a 66-65 victory in Lebanon, Ill. The series was renewed earlier this season in McKendree's first season in the GLVC with the Rangers downing the host Bearcats 62-54 on Jan. 19.

Last Meeting: UWP shot lights out in the second half of play, overcoming a one-point halftime deficit to roll host McKendree 62-54 on Jan. 19. The Rangers shot 58.3 percent (14-for-24) from the field in the second 20 minutes of play while shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc.

About the Bearcats: McKendree (7-14, 2-11 GLVC) opened its inaugural GLVC campaign 0-8 but has since won two of five, owning a pair of victories over Saint Joseph's College. The Bearcats split their games last week, defeating Saint Joseph's College 71-52 on Feb. 7 to complete the season sweep of the Pumas before falling 71-60 to visiting University of Indianapolis on Saturday.

McKendree makes its first appearance inside DeSimone Gymnasium on Thursday with Caty Ponce leading the team in scoring, averaging 17.0 ppg. Liz Gilman chips in 11.1 ppg while Brittany Willis adds 10.6 ppg. Shelby Woelfel grabs a team-best 7.0 rpg while adding 8.3 ppg on offense.

The Bearcats rank last in the GLVC in both rebounding margin (-6.4) and three-point field goal defense (36.7 percent) while leading the league in threes made with 6.8 per contest.

Feb. 16 vs. Bellarmine University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Knights have met 30 times on the hardwood with Bellarmine owning an 19-11 edge.

Last Meeting: The Rangers almost erased a 17-point deficit before eventually falling 66-60 to Bellarmine on Jan. 17 to open up GLVC East Division play. UWP faced a 17-point deficit with just under 10 minutes to play before whittling it down to just three off a Maddie Johnson layup with 66 second left. The Rangers were unable to score a point after that, misfiring on all three attempts down the stretch in the six-point setback.

About the Knights: Bellarmine's victory over UW-Parkside on Jan. 17 sparked a five-game win streak but the Knights have gone just 1-3 since with the lone victory coming at the expense of last place St. Joseph's.

Bellarmine split a pair of games last week, falling 81-67 to UIndy on Feb. 7 before demolishing St. Joe's 87-57 two days later to close out a three-game homestand.

Betsy Goodin is the lone Knight averaging in double figures, contributing 10.8 ppg along with 4.9 rpg. Darion Hutchinson chips in 9.8 ppg while adding a team-best 5.9 rpg.

The Knights rank 15th nationally and second in the GLVC in rebounding margin at +7.7 while sitting 20th in three-point field goal defense (26.5 percent) and 24th in assists per game (16.3).

National Rankings: UW-Parkside is ranked in the top 50 nationally in four statistical categories. The Rangers ranked ninth nationally (out of 287 teams) in free throw percentage, hitting 76.1 percent from the line while ranking 13th in field goal percentage (44.1 percent) and 35th in three-point field goal percentage (34.5 percent). The Rangers rank 40th in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 57.1 ppg and sit just outside the Top 50 in scoring margin, checking in a No. 57 at +9.0.

Individually, Sierra West is ranked 11th in assists per game, dishing out 5.5 per game while Jenna Endisch is 12th in three-point field goals per game, canning on average 2.85 per game.

Home Cooking: The Rangers have been nearly unbeatable at home in recent years, winning 55 of their last 60 games inside DeSimone Gymnasium. UWP compiled a 14-1 home record in 2011-12, the only blemish a one-point 68-67 defeat to Kentucky Wesleyan on Dec. 1.

UWP is 7-3 at home in 2012-2013, marking the first time since the 2007-2008 season the Rangers have dropped more than two contests at home. UW-Parkside was 12-4 at home in 2007-08, 10-2 in 2008-09 while finishing 15-1 in 2009-10, 15-0 in 2010-11 and 14-1 in 2011-12.

WBCA Top 25 Poll: The GLVC didn't have any teams ranked in the Top 25 Poll this week, although four teams were in the “others receiving votes” category. Southern Indiana led the way with 26 votes followed by Lewis University with 21 points as the Flyers dropped out of the rankings. UIndy garnered 16 votes while UW-Parkside netted 11.

Tournament Time: The 2013 Deaconess GLVC Tournament will be held March 7-10 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.

Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000, or through the Ford Center box office at (812) 422-1515. 

All-Tournament passes are $35, while Session Flex Passes are $25, allowing you access to any two of the first six sessions, excluding Sunday's finals.  Single-session tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students with a valid ID, while children aged six and under are admitted free of charge.

The 2013 Deaconess GLVC Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Tournaments will feature 16 seeded teams, including eight men's and eight women's squads that will have earned an invitation following first-round matchups on their respective campuses.  On Thursday, March 7, the men's quarterfinals will take place with four games at noon, 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. CT.  Friday's action will feature the four women's quarterfinal contests at the same times.  Both the men's and the women's semifinals will commence on Saturday, March 9, as the men take to the court at noon and 2:30 p.m., followed by the women at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.  The men's GLVC Champion will be crowned on Sunday, March 10, at noon, followed by the women's final at 2:30 p.m.