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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 20, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's and women's basketball teams return home to DeSimone Gymnasium on Monday night, opening up a three-game homestand against Lewis University. The Ranger women tipoff against the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rival Flyers at 5:30 p.m. with the Ranger men hitting the floor at 7:30 p.m.

Live stats, video and audio will be provided for both games. Steve Kratochvil will be providing play-by-play commentary while Jim Kramer will be providing color analysis on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

About the Ranger women: After five straight losses to open conference play, UW-Parkside (5-9, 1-5 GLVC) finally broke through on Saturday afternoon in Lebanon, Ill., downing host McKendree University 64-54. The Rangers held the Bearcats scoreless over the final 83 seconds of the game to pull away for the win. Gaby Bronson led the visiting Rangers with 20 points, five assists and three blocks while Tara Knapstein piled on 18 points and three blocks.

UW-Parkside began the week by suffering a 60-57 setback to the University of Illinois Springfield on Jan. 16 as the host Prairie Stars pulled away in the final 1:22 as the Rangers tallied just one point the rest of the way. Bronson and Danielle Slivka led the Parkside scoring efforts, each scoring 13 points.

Three Rangers average in double figures on the season with Bronson leading the way averaging 14.1 points per game and a team-best 5.9 rebounds per game.  The junior additionally leads the team in assists (62) and blocks (10) and ranks third in steals (20). Tara Knapstein adds 11.8 ppg and 5.0 rpg while Slivka enters Monday night averaging 11.6 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Maddie Johnston averages just a shade under 10 points a game at 9.6 ppg while Sarah Mlachnik chips in 6.0 ppg.

Series History: The Rangers and Flyers have battled 57 times on the hardwood with Lewis enjoying a 37-20 edge in the all-time series.

The two squads met four times last season. Lewis swept the regular season series and downed UW-Parkside 61-59 in the GLVC Tournament Semifinals but the Rangers got the last laugh, downing the Flyers 59-49 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Mar. 15 in Ashland, Ohio.

About the Flyers: 25th-ranked Lewis (12-2, 6-0 GLVC) heads to DeSimone Gymnasium riding a nine-game win streak. The Flyers dropped back to back games against Northern Michigan University (75-66) and Grand Valley State University (67-59) in late November but have since been unstoppable, winning four of their six GLVC games by double digit margins.

Lewis's closest conference encounter was a 76-73 win over host Maryville University on Jan. 9 while claiming big wins over Truman State University (98-72), Quincy University (92-80), McKendree (72-62) and Illinois Springfield (80-68).

Mariyah Henley powers the Flyers, leading the nationally-ranked squad in scoring (19.3 points per game), rebounding (13.1 rebounds per game) and blocks (29). Jamie Johnson chips in 15.2 ppg while Jess Reinhart adds 14.1 ppg and 6.9 rpg.

About the Ranger men: UW-Parkside (13-2, 6-0 GLVC) returns to the comforts of home, riding a six-game win streak as the team is off to its best start in GLVC play in program history.  This week will be a big test for the Green and White as they face three nationally-ranked squads in six days, beginning tonight against 23rd-ranked Lewis.

The Rangers picked up four wins on the road over the last two weeks, downing the University of Missouri-Saint Louis (89-76) and Maryville University (84-63) before earning gritty comeback wins over the University of Illinois Springfield (94-81) on Thursday night and against McKendree University (75-71) on Saturday afternoon.

Zygimantas Riauka has been on a tear for the Rangers, finishing in double figures in each of the last 11 games, including seven double-doubles in the last eight games. The junior forward leads the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.2 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game while shooting 64.8 percent (94-for-145) from the field. Jimmy Gavin averages 15.1 ppg off the bench while Jordan Mach averages 14.4 ppg with a team-best 41 threes on the season. Colt Grandstaff and Andy Mazurczak offer consistent production averaging 12.5 and 12.4 ppg, respectively.

UW-Parkside heads into Monday night averaging 85.0 ppg while outscoring opponents by over 15 points a game.

Series History: The Rangers and Flyers have met 60 times with Lewis owning a 36-24 advantage. The Flyers wept the season series in 2012-2013, prevailing 77-74 inside DeSimone Gymnasium on Jan. 21 while closing the regular season with a 68-61 win over UW-Parkside in Romeoville.

About the Flyers: 23rd-ranked Lewis (13-1, 5-1 GLVC) has yet to taste defeat in regulation with the squad's lone setback coming in double overtime on Jan. 9 with host Maryville scoring the game's final 12 points to escape with the 83-74 win.

Since then, Lewis squeaked past UMSL 82-80 while downing McKendree (85-78) and Illinois Springfield (86-73).

Ryan Jackson powers the Flyers, averaging 17.6 points per game while Julian Lewis tallied 15.2 ppg and a team-best 8.9 rebounds per game. Jeff Jarosz is the third Flyer averaging in double figures, adding 14.9 ppg.

Looking Ahead: UW-Parkside hosts Bellarmine University on Thursday night before closing the homestand against the University of Southern Indiana on Saturday. The Bellarmine men rank No. 2 in the nation while the Screaming Eagles rank 10th nationally.