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

SOMERS, Wis. (Dec. 16, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team embarks on its longest road series of the season this week, traveling to Puerto Rico where the Rangers will squeeze in three games in three days.
 
The Rangers open the trip tonight against the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras at 5 p.m. (Atlantic Standard Time) before taking on the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez the next day at 7 p.m. (AST). UW-Parkside finishes off the tour on Thursday with a 7 p.m. (AST) game against the University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon. The Atlantic Time Zone is two hours ahead of Central Time and the Rangers will be playing all three games at UPR-Bayamon's gym. Live stats for all three games will be provided along with the possibility of video coverage at parksiderangers.com/watch.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (5-2, 0-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) will return to the court after a 12 day hiatus, having last played on Dec. 4 in a GLVC clash against then No. 3 Lewis University.
 
Against the undefeated Flyers, the Rangers raced out to an early 11-4 advantage just four minutes into the game but an 18-0 Lewis run gave the hosts the lead, enjoying a 32-22 edge at the halftime break. The Rangers cut the deficit to single digits early in the second half but a 10-0 run by Lewis paddled its lead back up into double digits en route to the 76-61 win.
 
Lauren Boerger led the Rangers, coming off the bench and chipping in a season-high 12 points while Jennifer Blunt added eight points and six boards.
 
For the year, Gaby Bronson paces the Rangers, leading the team in points (13.7 points per game), rebounds (5.0 per game) and assists (6.0 per game). Bronson ranks 10th nationally in assists per game and is one of just four student-athletes to notch a triple-double this season in NCAA Division II. Bronson accomplished the feat on Nov. 15, collecting 19 points, 10 boards and 14 assists in a 82-64 win over University of Minnesota-Crookston.
 
Kristin Conniff is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.7 points per game with 3.1 rebounds per game while Stephanie Furr adds 7.1 ppg and 3.4 rpg. Conniff has been a sharpshooter from beyond the arc, draining a team-best 14 threes with shooting 38.9 percent from three-point range.
 
Tara Knapstein sports 6.3 ppg while leading the team in blocks (four). Sarah Mlachnik joins Bronson has the only two Rangers to start every game this season. The senior guard leads the team in steals with 11 on the year.
 
About the Gallitos: Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (0-7) along with UPR-Mayaguez and UPR-Bayamon are all dual members of both NCAA Division II and the Puerto Rico Inter-University Athletic League (LAI), an association of approximately 20 schools from the US Territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
 
The Gallitos (Spanish for Roosters) have dropped all seven games this season against Division II competition, including a 74-24 drubbing at the hands of Palm Beach Atlantic University on Nov. 26. UPR-Rio Piedras finished last season with a 1-7 mark against colleges from the mainland of the United States.
 
About the Janes: Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (0-3) has dropped all of its games against Division II foes this season. The Janes were 0-4 last season against NCAA opponents. Lynn University downed UPR-Mayaguez 84-50 this season on Nov. 15. The Fighting Knights additionally faced UPR-Rio Piedras and UPR-Bayamon during their island tour, downing Rio Piedras 69-31 on Nov. 14 while edging UPR-Bayamon 72-66 on Nov. 17.
 
About the Vaqueras: Puerto Rico-Bayamon (1-5) already has a win over a GLVC squad this season, downing University of Missouri-Saint Louis 76-68 in the season opener on Nov. 14. UMSL additionally faced UPR-Rio Piedras, downing the Gallitos 67-30. The Vaqueras (Spanish for Cowgirls) closed out their 2013-2014 campaign with a 1-9 mark against NCAA squads.
 
Bench Buckets: UW-Parkside has generated points off the bench all season with the reserves outscoring the starters on three occasions this year. The Ranger reserves netted 39 of the team's 69 points on Nov. 20 in a 10-point win over Ohio Dominican University while the backups poured on 41 points in a 60-42 win over Tiffin University on Nov. 22. Parkside's bench collected 36 of the team's 61 points on Dec. 4 against Lewis University.

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.