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

SOMERS, Wis. (Nov. 24, 2014)-- The undefeated University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team continues its epic season-opening road swing this week, playing two games in two different states sandwiched around the Thanksgiving holiday. The week begins on Tuesday against Upper Iowa University and concludes in Michigan against Northwood University.
 
The Rangers (4-0) and Peacocks square off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday inside Dorman Gymnasium in Fayette, Iowa before capping off the week on Sunday in Midland, Michigan with a noon showdown inside the Bennett Sports Center.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside continued its hot start last weekend, netting a pair of victories in Ohio. The Rangers topped Ohio Dominican University 69-59 on Nov. 20 before securing a 60-42 win over Tiffin University two days later.
 
Against ODU, the Rangers trailed early before chipping away at the Panther lead, trailing 32-29 at halftime. Parkside ripped off the first six points of the second half to grab the lead and never looked back, leading the rest of the way.
 
Jennifer Blunt turned in a huge performance off the bench, scoring 17 points with seven rebounds while Kristin Conniff came off the pine and added 16 as the Ranger reserved accounted for 39 of the squad's 69 points.
 
Against Tiffin, the Rangers again saw notable production from the non-starters, accounting for 41 of the squad's 60 points.
 
The host Dragons scored the opening nine points before the Rangers counter-punched with an 11-0 run to seize the lead. Tiffin once again snagged the lead before an 11-2 surge gave the visitors the lead for good. UW-Parkside owned a 26-20 advantage at the half en route to the 18-point victory.
 
Conniff led the Rangers with 15 points off the bench, scoring nine of those at the charity stripe while Stephanie Furr added 12 points and six boards.
 
Gaby Bronson leads the Rangers in scoring on the season, averaging 14.5 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game and 7.3 assists per game. Conniff has been a spark off the bench all season, averaging 14.3 ppg along with 4.0 rpg, hitting 40.7 percent of her shots from beyond the arc while Tara Knapstein adds 8.8 ppg. Blunt leads the team on the glass, averaging 6.3 rpg while adding 8.0 ppg on the offensive end of the floor.
 
About the Peacocks: Upper Iowa (1-2) heads into its home opener looking to snap a two-game slide. The Peacocks opened the season with a 77-68 victory over Western State Colorado University on Nov. 14 before suffering a 94-89 overtime setback to Colorado State University-Pueblo the following day.
 
Upper Iowa continued its skid on Saturday, getting stomped 101-62 at the hands of the Rangers' Great Lakes Valley Conference rival Lewis University.
 
Lindsay Carroll paces the Peacocks, averaging 16.7 points per game along with 5.3 rebounds per game while Olivia Winkler adds 15.7 ppg. Aleesha Cleaver is the third UIU player averaging in double figures, dropping 15.0 ppg. Lauren Buck and Emily Gustafson lead the team on the glass, averaging 8.3 and 8.0 rpg, respectively.
 
About the Timberwolves: Northwood (1-1) split a pair of home games during the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge to open the season. The Timberwolves rolled Saint Joseph's College 83-67 on Nov. 14 before faltering 83-75 to Lewis the next day. Northwood hits the road to face the University of Indianapolis on Tuesday before hosting the Rangers on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Timberwolves feature five players averaging in double figures headlined by Gabrielle Rivette who averages 13.0 points per game. Lauren Robak adds 12.5 ppg, Jordyn Nurenberg chips in 12.0 ppg off the bench while Sarah Susan and Aleigha Wylie average 11.0 and 10.5 ppg, respectively. Kaitlin Susan average 7.0 rebounds per game while Taylor Roe dishes out a team-leading 5.0 assists per contest.
 
Land of the Northern Sun: Upper Iowa will be the third Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference the Rangers have faced this season. UW-Parkside opened the season with a 70-61 win over Minnesota State University-Moorhead before downing University of Minnesota-Crookston 82-64.
 
Great Lakes vs. Great Lakes: Similar to the NSIC, the Rangers will be facing its third GLIAC school in Northwood on Sunday after clearing wins over Ohio Dominican and Tiffin.
 
GLVC Accolades: Gabby Bronson was named the GLVC Player of the Week on Nov. 17 for her performance at the Highway 76 Classic where the senior earned Co-MVP honors after notching a triple-double and averaging 19.5 points per game, 8.0 assists per game and 7.5 rebounds per game.
 
Bronson became the first Ranger to win the award since Jenna Endisch did so on Dec. 20, 2012.
 
Road Warriors: UW-Parkside will play its opening 15 games on the road this season. By the time the Rangers tipoff against Maryville University on Jan. 8 in the home opener, UW-Parkside will have logged 7,261 miles of travel, touring seven states along with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
 
The two-month long road odyssey will see the Rangers play games in Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois (again), Puerto Rico, Ohio (again) and Missouri.
 
Pod-demonium: The GLVC continues its pod system for the 2014-2015, retaining the setup of two divisions with two pods of four. Pod mates will play each other in a home and home series and play all other opponents once. UW-Parkside's pod includes University of Illinois Springfield, McKendree University and Lewis University.

Preseason Prognostications: UW-Parkside is picked to finish fifth in the GLVC East in 2014-2015 according to the league's 16 head coaches.
 
The Rangers accumulated 60 points and one first place nod to secure fifth. Lewis University collected 13 of the 16 first place votes, snagging the top spot in the East with 118 points. The University of Indianapolis and the University of Southern Indiana each grabbed a first place vote, placing second and third in the poll, respectively. Bellarmine University rounds out the upper half of the division, slotting fourth with 74 points. Saint Joseph's College was picked sixth (53 points) followed by the University of Illinois Springfield in seventh (38 points) and McKendree University in eighth (30 points).

In the West Division, Drury University scooped up 12 of the 16 first place endorsements, claiming the top spot with 115 points. Quincy University is second with 94 points and one first place vote followed by Maryville University with 93 points and one first place vote. Truman State University grabbed two first place votes and 89 points to secure fourth while the University of Missouri-Saint Louis is fifth with 64 points. William Jewell College is sixth (47 points) followed by Missouri University S&T  in seventh (40 points) and Rockhurst University in eighth (26 points).

Home Sweet Home: The Rangers have been nearly unbeatable at home in recent years, winning 66 of their last 77 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, 11-3 in 2012-13 and 7-7 this season.

The Yorg File: Head Coach Jacob Yorg became the program's sixth coach prior to the 2013-2014 season, 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 a GLVC Tournament Championship and a GLVC West Division crown.
 
Joining Yorg on the bench this season will be former Ranger student-athlete Danielle Slivka along with Oliver Wiseman and Dean Mlachnik.