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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 6, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team looks to stay hot as the Rangers begin their second tour of the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division this week. UW-Parkside faces Kentucky Wesleyan College on Thursday in Owensboro before a Saturday showdown with the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville.

The Rangers tip off at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday in their final trip to Owensboro while hitting the floor at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Evansville. Live stats and audio will be available for both games while video will be available on Saturday against USI. Jim Kramer will be providing play-by-play for both contests on the audio feed available online and on WRKN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (13-6, 7-4 GLVC) has won four straight and five of its last six games. The Rangers blew out host Saint Joseph's College 62-38 on Jan. 31 before utilizing some late game heroics from Danielle Slivka to emerge with a 77-75 victory over No. 19 University of Indianapolis two days later on Alumni Day.

Against the Pumas in Rensselaer, UW-Parkside mounted a 26-3 run midway through the first half, turning a tight ballgame into a blowout. The Rangers continued to apply the heat maintaining at least a 17-point buffer the entire second half. Gaby Bronson and Kristin Conniff led the team with 12 points. Conniff's 12 was a career-high, scoring all her points from beyond the arc as the freshman came off the bench and logged 15 minutes of game action.

Saturday's game featured a bit more drama as an inbounds play with two seconds left found the hands of Slivka who layed in a shot at the buzzer for the go-ahead score in the Rangers' 77-75 upset of UIndy.

The wild affair featured seven lead changes and five ties while neither team led by more than nine points in the game. UWP took a timeout on offense with seven seconds left and the game tied 75-75. The final horn sounded and it appeared the game was headed into overtime before the officials ruled head coach Jenny Knight-Kenesie had signaled timeout before the buzzer. Two seconds were put back on the clock and a Sierra West inbounds pass found Slivka for the game winner, the Rangers' fourth straight victory and third this season against a Top 25 opponent. Slivka finished the game with a career-high 17 points and 10 rebounds while accounting for eight of the Rangers' final 10 points of the game.

On the season, Jenna Endisch leads the Rangers in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game. Gaby Bronson adds 9.6 ppg along with 4.2 rebounds per game while Slivka is the team's leader on the glass, grabbing 6.8 rpg. Sierra West dishes out 5.6 assists per game while contributing 8.9 ppg.

Feb. 7 vs. Kentucky Wesleyan College at Owensboro Sportscenter (Live Stats)(Audio) 

Series History: The Rangers and Panthers have met 32 times on the hardwood since beginning the series in 1995-96 with the Rangers owning a 19-13 advantage.

Last Meeting: UW-Parkside downed KWC 67-57 on Jan. 26 inside DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers utilized a career-high 18 points from senior Kiah Simon while shooting 59.1 percent (13-for-22) in the second half and limiting the Panthers to shooting just 33.3 percent (nine-for-27).

About the Panthers: Kentucky Wesleyan (12-6, 8-3 GLVC) has bounced back from a pair of defeats against Lewis University and UW-Parkside, earning a pair of wins last week. KWC sits in second place in the eight-team GLVC East Division, one-game behind the division-leading Flyers.
The Panthers began the week with a 76-73 home victory over McKendree University on Jan. 31 before downing host Bellarmine University 71-63 on Saturday. KWC led by as many as 25 points against the Bearcats before squeaking out the three-point victory while surviving a furious second half comeback on Saturday against the Knights after holding a 41-26 halftime lead.

Luaren Goffinet is the lone Panther averaging in double figures, leading the team with 11.4 ppg. Bianca Barton adds 9.7 ppg with T'Essence Phelps adding 8.9 ppg and a team-high 6.1 rpg.

KWC ranks 44th nationally in scoring offense (70.9 ppg) while ranking 27th in three-point field goal percentage (35.4 percent) and 31st in three-point field goals per game (7.0). The Panthers force opponents to turn the ball over on average 14.9 times per game, ranking 21st nationally.

Feb. 9 vs. University of Southern Indiana at Physical Activities Center (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Screaming Eagles have met 29 times with USI winning 20 of those encounters.

Last Meeting: UW-Parkside stunned then No. 23 Southern Indiana 69-53 on Jan. 24 inside DeSimone Gymnasium to spark the Rangers current four-game win streak. Jenna Endisch poured on 22 points and UWP used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to reclaim the lead and never look back.

About the Screaming Eagles: USI (15-4, 7-4 GLVC) sits tied for third in the GLVC East Division with UW-Parkside. The Screaming Eagles won both of their contests last week, snapping a three-game slide. Southern Indiana downed Bellarmine 67-58 on Jan. 31 inside the Physical Activities Center and defeated host McKendree 73-63 two days later.

Anna Hackert leads the Eagles in scoring and rebounding, entering Thursday against Lewis averaging 15.2 ppg and 9.5 rpg. Stephanie Carpenter adds 11.4 ppg while Ariel Barnes chips in 9.6 ppg.

The high flying Eagle offense ranks second in the GLVC and 20th nationally, averaging 73.4 ppg. USI is 13th in assist to turnover ratio (1.1), 17th in assists per game (16.6), 18th in field goal percentage (43.6 percent) and 21st in scoring margin (+14.4).

National Rankings: UW-Parkside ranks in the top 10 nationally in two statistical categories while appearing in the top 50 in five statistical categories. The Rangers rank seventh nationally (out of 287 teams) in free throw percentage, hitting 76.7 percent of the time while sit 10th in field goal percentage (44.5 percent). UWP is 33rd in three-point field goal percentage (34.8 percent) and 49th in both scoring defense (57.4 ppg) and scoring margin (+9.6).

Individually, Jenna Endisch ranks eighth in three-point field goals per game (2.89) while Sierra West is 10th in the nation in assists per game (5.6).

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.

Giant-Killers:  UW-Parkside has knocked off three ranked teams this season, posting a 3-1 mark against teams in the Top 25. The Rangers downed then No. 6 Washburn University 50-47 on Dec. 19 in Las Vegas while defeating then No. 23 USI 69-53 on Jan. 24 and knocking off then No. 15 UIndy 77-75 last Saturday.

GLVC in the Top 25: Lewis University is the only GLVC squad to appear in the Top 25 Poll this week while three others are receiving votes. Lewis jumps into the Top 25 at No. 24 while UIndy is the top GLVC team receiving votes, falling out of the top 25 this week but garnering 28 votes. UW-Parkside is getting 11 votes with USI receiving five votes.