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

SOMERS, Wis. (Dec. 3, 2014)-- With six regular season games under its belt, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team embarks on Great Lakes Valley Conference play this week, taking on East Division nemesis and third-ranked Lewis University on Thursday afternoon.
 
Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. inside Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Illinois. Live stats, video and audio will be provided with Jim Kramer providing play-by-play for the game that can be heard over the airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
 
Dec. 4 vs. Lewis University at Neil Carey Arena (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Last Season: The Rangers and Flyers split the season series in 2013-2014, both claiming wins on their home floor. UW-Parkside unseated then No. 25 Lewis 51-50 on Jan. 20, 2014 inside DeSimone Gymnasium in a turbulent game featuring 14 lead changes and six ties. Lewis exacted revenge a month later, collecting a 69-56 win on Feb. 27 inside Neil Carey Arena.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (5-1) heads to suburban Chicago fresh off a 71-52 victory on Sunday over Northwood University. Stephanie Furr led the way against the Timberwolves, scoring a career-high 22 points while Jessica Prince tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards in just 19 minutes of action.
 
The squads traded leads in the opening stanza with UW-Parkside enjoying a 32-28 edge at the break. The Rangers pulled away in the second half, owning the lead the entire time on their way to the 19-point win.
 
Parkside's lone setback of the 2014-2015 season came the previous game, falling 59-54 to host Upper Iowa University on Nov. 25. Against the Peacocks, the two squads battled back and forth with 18 lead changes and 11 ties.
 
UW-Parkside led 50-48 with 5:18 left off a Furr jumper but the host Peacocks ended the game on an 11-4 run to steal the win.
 
Gaby Bronson leads the Rangers in scoring (15.0 points per game), rebounding (5.5 per game) and assists (6.5 per game), having started all six games while Kristin Conniff adds 12.7 ppg and 3.3 rpg. Furr and Tara Knapstein chips in 7.5 and 6.7 ppg, respectively while Jennifer Blunt pulls down 5.2 rpg.
 
About the Flyers:  Lewis (5-0) heads into Thursday undefeated, having steamrolled its five regular season foes, averaging 84.0 points per game on the year while limiting its opponents to just 67.0 points per game.
 
The Flyers began the season with three big exhibition wins, taking down Division I foes Loyola University Chicago (83-61), Northern Illinois University (60-49) and Marquette University (75-72) over a five day stretch.
 
Last weekend, Lewis edged Saint Edwards University 75-73 at the Rollins Thanksgiving Tournament in Winter Park, Florida on Nov. 28 before downing host Rollins College 76-65 the next day.
 
The Flyers and Rangers have faced two common opponents this season with Lewis claiming an 83-75 win over Northwood on Nov. 15 and a dominating 101-62 win over Upper Iowa on Nov. 22 inside Neil Carey Arena.
 
Lewis has been a tough squad to beat inside Neil Carey Arena, owning a 26 game win streak inside the facility, a stretch spanning all the way back to December 2012.
 
Jamie Johnson paces the Flyers, averaging 23.0 points per game while Mariyah Brawner-Henley chips in 16.4 ppg while grabbing a team-leading 15.2 rebounds per game. Alexus Grayer adds 11.0 ppg off the bench while Jess Reinhart is the fourth Flyer in double figures, averaging 10.0 ppg along with 6.4 rpg.
 
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.