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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 7, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team embarks on its first road trip of the Great Lakes Valley Conference season this week, shipping down to Saint Louis to square off against a pair of West Division foes. The Rangers take on University of Missouri-Saint Louis on Thursday night before facing Maryville University on Saturday afternoon.

The Rangers and Tritons square off at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday inside the Mark Twain Building while hitting the court at 1 p.m. on Saturday against the Saints inside Moloney Arena. Live stats, video and audio will be provided for both games. Mark Albanese will be on the call on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (4-6, 0-2 GLVC) looks to snap its three-game slide this weekend in Saint Louis. The Rangers held second half leads in all three losses, including a 13-point buffer on Friday against Quincy University.  In that game, the Rangers scored 10 of the first 12 points in the second half, securing a 46-33 lead with 15:48 left before ultimately falling 56-55 to the Hawks after Maggie Cunningham drained a three-pointer with 13 seconds left.

Danielle Slivka and Gaby Bronson led the Ranger scoring, both finishing with 13 points while Tara Knapstein added 11 and a team-high eight rebounds.

Two days later, the Rangers fell 74-68 to Truman State University after the Bulldogs made 33 trips to the free throw line and converted 29 of them. Bronson and Knapstein each matched season-highs with 20 and 17 points, respectively.

On the season, Bronson paces the squad in scoring, rebounding and assists, averaging 14.0 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game and 4.5 assists per game. Bronson ranks 18th nationally and third in the GLVC in assist to turnover ratio (2.37) while ranking fifth in the league in assists. Slivka averages 12.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg while Knapstein tallied 11.8 ppg and 5.2 rpg. Maddie Johnston is the fourth Ranger averaging in double figures, posting 10.0 ppg. All four have started all 10 games this season for the Green and White.

As a team, the Rangers rank third in the GLVC in scoring defense, yielding just 61.4 points per game.

Jan. 9 vs. Missouri-Saint Louis at the Mark Twain Building (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Tritons have met 25 times with UW-Parkside enjoying a 16-9 advantage in the all-time series. The two squads last met on Jan. 5, 2012 in Saint Louis with the visiting Rangers prevailing 69-43.

About the Tritons: Missouri-Saint Louis (10-1, 3-0 GLVC) heads into the weekend having won nine straight games. The Tritons lone loss was a 71-67 defeat to Trevecca Nazarene University on Nov. 22 at the Pops Duncan Classic. Since then, UMSL has been unstoppable, opening GLVC play with a 3-0 record with wins over Maryville (69-35), McKendree University (69-63) and University of Illinois Springfield (73-68).

UMSL leads the GLVC in six statistical categories and ranks in the top ten nationally in three categories. The Tritons rank fifth nationally and first in the league in rebounding margin (+11.5) while sitting sixth nationally and first in the GLVC in scoring defense, allowing just 53.2 points per game. UMSL is 10th nationally and second in the GLVC in assist to turnover ratio (1.25) while pacing the GLVC and ranking 10th nationally in scoring margin (+22.5). UMSL additionally tops the league in field goal percentage defense (35.4 percent), personal fouls per game (16.4) and three-point field goal defense (25.0 percent).

Four Tritons average in double figures with Hazaria Washington leading the offense with 14.3 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. Devonna Smith leads the team on the glass, averaging 9.2 rebounds per game while adding 13.1 ppg on the offensive end. Jessica Zavoral and Alyssa Like chip in 12.2 and 10.5 ppg, respectively.

Jan. 11 vs. Maryville at Moloney Arena (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Saints have met just three times since the series began during the 2009-2010 season with UW-Parkside owning a 2-1 edge. The Saints won the last meeting 62-55 on Jan. 7, 2012 in Saint Louis after the Rangers suffered a six-minute scoring drought late in the game.

About the Saints: Maryville (8-4, 1-1 GLVC) heads into Thursday's clash with Lewis riding a four game win streak. The Saints recent run began after getting demolished 69-35 by UMSL on Dec. 7 to open GLVC play. Maryville regrouped with three wins in Puerto Rico, downing Metropolitan University (65-32), University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon (82-51) and University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (69-61).

Maryville led by as many as 16-points in a 74-67 win over Illinois Springfield on Jan. 3 while its game against McKendree originally slated for last Sunday was cancelled due to inclement weather.

The Saints, undefeated at home this season, are paced by Shelby Miller who averages 13.2 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game and 2.5 steals per game. Alex Hillyer chips in 12.1 ppg and leads the squad on the glass with 5.7 rpg while Samantha Robison adds 11.4 ppg.

Return of the Yorg: Jacob Yorg returns to Saint Louis for the first time since taking the reigns as head coach during the summer. Yorg spent five seasons under Maryville coach Chris Ellis and helped the squad transition from Division III to Division II. Ellis is in his 13th year at Maryville owning 217 wins, of which 76 were secured while Yorg was an assistant.

Five and Counting: Gaby Bronson and Tara Knapstein have both finished in double figures in each of the last five games. Both players seem to be in synch when it comes to big performances as Bronson and Knapstein tied season-high scoring totals on Sunday afternoon, matching previous highs both set on Nov. 11 against Upper Iowa University.

I Can't Drive 55: The Rangers are 4-0 on the season when holding opponents to under 55 points but are 0-6 when yielding 56 or more points. The stout Ranger defense has allowed just one team to score more than 74 points, yielding 80 points in the non-conference finale against Michigan Tech University.

Preseason Prognostications: UW-Parkside is picked to finish fourth in the GLVC East in 2013-2014 according to the league's 16 head coaches. The Rangers accumulated 78 points and one first place nod to secure fourth. Defending Champion Lewis University was picked to win the division with 113 points and 11 first place votes. University of Indianapolis was picked second followed by the University of Southern Indiana. Bellarmine University was picked to place fifth followed by McKendree University, Saint Joseph's College and the University of Illinois Springfield. Out West, Quincy University was selected to win the division with Maryville University, Missouri University S&T and Truman State University rounding out the top four.

GLVC Shuffle: This offseason the 16-member GLVC saw a few tweaks to its membership. Charter member Kentucky Wesleyan College exited the league to join the nascent Great Midwest Athletic Conference with Truman State University from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association filling the void. The addition of Truman moved the University of Illinois Springfield from the West Division to the East Division.

Home Sweet Home: The Rangers have been nearly unbeatable at home in recent years, winning 63 of their last 71 games inside DeSimone Gymnasium. 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, 14-1 in 2011-12 and 11-3 in 2012-13.

The Yorg File: Head Coach Jacob Yorg became the program's sixth coach over the summer, replacing the program's winningest coach in Jenny Knight-Kenesie. Yorg is no stranger to the GLVC having served as the associate head coach at Maryville University from 2008-2013. Maryville posted a 76-64 record in that span, winning the GLVC West Division crown last season in the Saints' fourth year as a Division II program.

Also joining the program is top assistant Jordan Wilde. Wilde previously served in a similar capacity at NAIA Ashford University in Iowa. Former UW-Parkside standouts Brittany Beyer and Jadee Rooney will both patrol the bench as well. Beyer served as a student assistant last season after concluding her career in 2012 while Rooney joins the Ranger staff after spending the summer dominating the Big V League in Australia as a member of the Ringwood Hawks.